


Spin Cycle

by smoll_ballerina



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: All twice members make an appearance, F/F, Fluff, but mainly fluff, little angst, minayeon are disaster college students
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 14:48:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 36,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14813450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoll_ballerina/pseuds/smoll_ballerina
Summary: Cross posted from AFF. I'm schmegan19 over there. Idk why it's taken me so long to post on here I've just been too lazy to copy and paste I guess.





	1. Ch 1

**Author's Note:**

> Cross posted from AFF. I'm schmegan19 over there. Idk why it's taken me so long to post on here I've just been too lazy to copy and paste I guess.

Nayeon never thought her senior year of college would involve being on a first name basis with the local laundromat owner, all of her white shirts being turned an obnoxious pink, and accidentally stealing some pretty girl’s clothes.

The too bright fluorescent lights and the rumbling of the pair of washing machines Nayeon had in use were doing nothing to help the splitting headache she had. That, and yet another paper about Shakespeare she had due in 7 hours at 9AM promptly, but her poor time management skills can be the one to blame for the stress induced migraine she wasn’t even trying to nurse. Said lack of skills also constitutes the reason she was currently cross legged on the floor of Kim’s Laundromat and Dry Cleaning, attempting to do her “adulting”, as Momo so aptly dubbed it. She could hear Jihyo’s nagging voice in the back of her head, scolding her for not getting it done sooner.

Snack wrappers and a couple soda cans laid around her feet, her “dinner” for the night. She pulled the blanket she had on tighter around her shoulders trying to get cozy. She started bringing a blanket with her every time she went to do her laundry, sometimes going as far to bring her pillow with too. The textbooks and notebook laying next to her helped her fill her essay with enough information for the professor to think she actually tried. She had almost 4 full pages and to her delight, it sounded like she’d spent the given 3 weeks working on it, as opposed to the actual 3 hours.

Her laptop barely had any battery left, but as long as it still had power, she was going to try her best to get the majority of it done. She only managed another paragraph and a half before the battery ran out, her reflection on the black screen upset her more than her laptop dying. She hadn’t realized how awful she looked from the lack of sleep.

Nayeon sighed and accepted that she couldn’t work on her essay until she got back to her apartment and got her charger. She set aside her computer, closing her eyes to relax until the machines went off. Barely seconds after she finally found a relaxing position, the loud beeping signaling the end of the cycle disturbed her, only increasing the pain of her headache.

She cracked one eye open and glared at the machines in front of her, weighing the pros and cons of actually moving to retrieve her laundry. Getting to go home and sleep as soon as her laundry’s done won her over. She struggled to stand up, groaning and complaining the whole time about her “stupid laundry and her stupid essay and her stupid laptop with it’s stupid battery”.

Opening the machine got an immediate response out of the girl. “No no no no no no FUCK!!!” Nayeon was practically climbing into the washer, trying to rifle through all of her clothes. Every item she pulled out was pastel pink, definitely not the color they were when they went into the machine. She pulled out a red sock along with all the previously white clothing, looking at it as if it had just murdered her first born. Her headache could not get worse at that point.

Not even bothering with figuring out a solution, she pulled a handful of quarters out of her pocket, most of the change falling onto the floor instead. She deposited three coins into one of the dryers, tossed the first load in, slamming the door and starting it. She tossed her ruined clothes into a second dryer, and more quarters into the coin slot. Nayeon was short one quarter and grumbled as she went to pick up some of the fallen change.

“Fucking red sock and ruining my clothes and fucking quarters on the goddamn ground,” her voice grew steadily louder as she bent to retrieve the coins one by one. “And fucking laptop for dying.” She jammed one last quarter into slot and slammed the door as hard as she could, “and fucking  _me_ for being in a _fucking_ laundromat at _2 in the FUCKING morning_!” Turning away from the machine, she almost runs straight into someone.

She screamed bloody murder as she scrambled backwards. Nayeon really wasn’t expecting to see anyone else in Mr Kim’s at 2 in the morning.


	2. Ch 2

The girl looked to be about Nayeon’s age, laundry basket on her hip and also scared out of her mind because of the outburst. Nayeon tried to play it cool, even after losing all of her dignity within seconds of meeting the very pretty stranger.

Arm behind her head and a bashful smile on her face, “Hey there. Uh- this is horrifying. H-how much of that did you hear?” All of her confidence now lost, Nayeon crossed her arms and looked at the floor, lightly kicking her foot because this girl was just staring at her. She glanced up at the mysterious girl, noticing the amused smile on her face.

Looking like she was trying to carefully word her answer, the girl gazed at Nayeon’s little set up in the aisle. Finally looking back at Nayeon, “A “fucking red sock” was the first thing I heard. Also “fucking you,” apparently. Lots of “fucking” somethings that you’re blaming.” The girl finished with a devilishly attractive smirk on her face, not that Nayeon paid a lot of attention to it.

_Fucking me. Yes fucking me. Her fucking me. Wow she’s really pre- NO! Bad Nayeon!_

Mouth gaping like a fish, Nayeon couldn’t seem to process what she was just told. Rubbing her forehead trying to give any relief to her still pounding headache, “Great you heard everything. Fantastic.” Awkwardly waving, “Well, I’m Nayeon and no I don’t normally yell about socks and coins on the ground in laundromats at 2 in the morning.”

Mystery girl giggled and covered her mouth with her hand, and Nayeon would never admit to the way that simple action made her heart flutter and her chest tighten. Setting the basket she had been carrying down on a bench, she ran a hand through her hair, which Nayeon _will_ admit made her knees a little weak.

_Holy shit this girl is so-_

“I’m Mina.”

_Quiet. Wait, what?_

Nayeon’s eyebrows furrowed as a confused smile grew on her face. “Weren’t you just roasting me about my pitiful rant like 30 seconds ago? Where did that girl go?”

Mina immediately blushed and looked down, eyes clenched shut in embarrassment about the way she had just so bluntly spoken to the very pretty stranger. “I’m so sorry about that. I really don’t know where that came from” She peeked up at Nayeon trying to judge her reaction, only to be met with a teasing smile and glint in the other girl’s eye.

“I’m kidding. I’m not offended at all.” Gesturing to herself, “Kind of a walking mess all the time so it’s nice to hear someone call me out on it,” chuckling dryly near the end of her sentence.

The head nod she received from the other girl drove them into a new awkward silence, both of the girls struggling to find some way to fill it. Nayeon looked at the dryer she had running, catching her own reflection in the door. Eyes widened, she scrambled to try and make herself look more presentable and less disheveled. It may have been too late because Mina had already seen her like that, but she kind of wanted to impress the pretty stranger.

Nayeon noticed that the other girl was starting to sort through her laundry, dividing it into piles of like colors. _Cute she washes all her clothes by color coding_. Mina’s voice broke her out of her thoughts.

“So are you studying for something or…,” trailing off at the end. Nayeon saw her pointing at her little set up on the ground.

“Oh no actually I was trying to write a paper for my Lit class but my laptop died. As you heard me yelling about earlier,” smiling cheekily at the other girl.

Mina picked up her first load of laundry and tossed it into a washing machine, depositing her coins and starting it. “What year of school are you in?”

“I’m a senior already. Last year of school and then out to the real world.” Nayeon was having a hard time accepting that she’s almost done with college and would soon have to become a full blown adult, but that isn’t something she’s going to figure out in a laundromat at 2am.

Mina looked pleasantly surprised, “Oh really. I’m a sophomore.” Her second load went into another machine.

_She’s younger. Yes!_

Arms crossed and leaning against one of the machines, “Yah here you are 2 years younger and making fun of your unnie about her life problems. When did kids get so bold these days?”

Mina’s eyes bugged out at the realization and immediately apologized over and over, bowing to try and make up to the older girl.

_The poor girl looks like she’s about to have a panic attack._

Nayeon was having the time of her life, but really needed to stop the other before she bowed for the 30th time. She reached out and grabbed her shoulder to keep her in place. “I’m kidding please stop before you hurt yourself,” laughing through her whole sentence, her hand slowly trailing down Mina’s arm, eventually letting go. The poor girl still looked a little uneasy so Nayeon tried to keep their failing conversation going.

“Um, well I’m History major. No big reason why actually it’s the only subject that didn’t bore me to death half a semester into it.” Nayeon started to realize she was really making herself sound like an actual disaster.

“I’m a performing arts major. Ballet to be specific. I’m only in my second year so I’m just getting a bunch of Gen Eds out of the way but that’s what I’ll be focusing on later.” The girl got a special glint in her eyes when she mentioned ballet.

“Have you done ballet for a while then?” The older girl really wanted to learn as much as possible about this girl, without sounding like some major creep.

“Yeah about 13 years now? I started when I was 7.” Nayeon’s jaw dropped and she just stared at the other girl in awe.

_Damn 13 years? She must be really flexi- Nope. Bad Nayeon, again. Clean thoughts._

The beeping of one of the dryers diverted Nayeon’s attention, getting her to walk over and retrieve her laundry. She noticed she’d forgotten to start her other dryer. She barely registered the beeping going on behind her while Mina tended to her own loads of laundry. Just as she was hovering over the start button, she heard Mina curse under her breath.

Turning over her shoulder, “Everything ok over there?” The other girl looked like she was nursing her own headache at this point. Nayeon could see she was shifting through her own pile of coins, distraught about something.

“No actually I don’t have enough change to dry my all of my clothes,” chuckling out of pity for herself. “I’m only in a laundromat because my dorm’s machines are out of order for a few weeks.” The poor girl looked ready to break down.

Nayeon looked at the machine she was about to run and immediately thought of a solution. “Do you just want to toss some of your stuff in with mine? I mean I saw you color coding your clothes earlier but maybe you can put a few things in as opposed to none.” Mina’s head snapped up at the and looked relieved that she had been offered this.

“Are you sure? I mean we just met I don’t want to impose on-” Nayeon cut off her protests right away. “No seriously let me make it up to you for screaming in your face literally the first second we met.” Mina’s smile almost split her face in two, easily Nayeon’s new favorite sight in the world. The bright lights reflected off of the girl’s silver tooth, only adding to the girl’s cuteness, by the older’s standards.

At Nayeon’s words, Mina picked some of her freshly washed clothes that matched with what the other had in her machine and tossed them in together. Nayeon closed the door and started it, then turned and collected her dry laundry and threw it into her waiting basket. She sat and started to fold it neatly, listening to Mina give somewhat of an explanation for her mishap.

“Normally I double check that I have enough change but I guess I just forgot this time. Work kept me really late and I’m exhausted so I guess that make me forgetful.” With the change she did have available, she placed the rest of her clothes into a vacant dryer and started it. Sitting next to Nayeon when she was done.

“Work kept you until 2 in the morning? Where the hell do you work?” Nayeon didn’t even try to hide her annoyance for the other girl.

“A diner not too far from campus. They’re only open until 11 pm but there was a late rush of college kids who almost completely trashed the place so my boss made me stay and clean up. By myself,” giving a sarcastic thumbs up at the end.

The conversation drifted from there to anything and everything. Nayeon discovered that Mina was from Japan and transferred to the university for their ballet program. She shared herself that she failed one of her lecture classes her freshman year because she hadn’t even realised she had registered for it. Of course Mina thought that was hilarious and laughed for a minute straight.

The dryers ended, signaling that the cycles were done, with neither girl wanting to acknowledge the end of their time together. Nayeon begrudgedly stood up to open her machine, pulling the clothes out and and into her basket. Mina did the same with her pile, starting to fold her clothes. Nayeon stood just staring, the two girls enveloped in silence no longer knowing what to talk about. The younger girl finished rather quickly, moving to the shared basket to start picking her clothes out. She double checked the basket to make sure she grabbed everything, feeling confident that she had.

Now equipped with everything that she had brought with her, the Mina turned to Nayeon to part ways. “Well, thank you again for sharing a machine with me. It saved me a lot of trouble actually.” A somber smile on her face told Nayeon everything she needed to know- she wasn’t the only one feeling sad by the need to part ways.

“Like I said it was no problem. I’m glad I was able to help.”

With one last chuckle, the younger girl waved and headed for the door. She hesitated a bit and turned back to Nayeon, prompting to older girl to get one last comment in.

“Hey, you know if you ever need to be a cheapskate again and bum off someone else’s machine, I’m actually here way more than I care to admit. Mostly at 2 in the morning because I’m a mess.”

The deathly attractive smirk on her face again, Mina backed out the door giving Nayeon the exact answer she wanted to hear. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Long after she saw the headlights of Mina’s car disappear, she stood staring out the door, thinking about the past 2 hours she just spent with what was practically the girl of her dreams. Reality hit again when Nayeon saw the mess she still had to gather up before she could leave too. She quickly packed up her school bag and set it aside, moving to sort her laundry.

_That’s weird. When did I buy this pair of underwear?_

Thinking it was just the lack of sleep affecting her brain she set it on the pile. Only to find a pair of socks she didn’t recognize. She rifled through the basket, pulling out a hoodie she definitely did not own.

_“Seoul University Ballet and Modern Dance Competition 2016.” I don’t do ballet. Why the hell do I have this? I don’t even know anyone who does bal- Oh-_

“Shit!”

Stomping over to her bag to pick up her belongings and leave, another rant came spilling from her mouth.

“Stupid laundromats and stupid machines needing coins and stupid pretty girls who come in and make me even gayer.” Slinging the basket onto her hip she started for the door. “And stupid pretty girl with a silver tooth and stupid pretty girl for forgetting her clothes and stupid fucking essay that I still have to write!”


	3. Ch 3

“How did you manage to get a 100% on this essay. You’ve never gotten a grade this high on _anything_ ,” Jihyo still stared incredulously at the red score on top of Nayeon’s paper.

“I don’t know I guess this just means my brain works best on no sleep. Or maybe it was the laundromat that gave me the clear head. Maybe I should write all my essays there. Something about the setting may have had something to do with it,” Nayeon was very proud of herself for the essay. Jihyo just looked at Nayeon like she was an idiot.

“I bet the professor didn’t even read all of it. Just skimmed it and thought it sounded passable and didn’t want to actually try to grade it. Or he confused your paper for a student who actually tries,” Jeongyeon butted in from her spot on the couch, paying more attention to the magazine she was reading than the other two.

“Oh fuck off Jeongyeon I’m struggling. Why can’t you be supportive of me for once.” Nayeon only received two snorts in response.

“Yeah yeah laugh all you want but it actually raised my grade by a bunch so I’m not as stressed as I was,” she snatched her essay back from Jihyo and walked back toward her room.

“Hey come get your laundry it’s just been sitting here for days!” Jihyo yelled at the older girl, trying to keep the small apartment somewhat tidy.

“Kids these days and disrespecting their elders. Where did your manners go Park Jihyo?” Nayeon asked walking back in the room. Not that the younger girl ever really talked formally to the older. When they first met Nayeon forgot to tell the other girl her age and Jihyo assumed they were the same age or that Nayeon was younger, with how immature she actually is. Jihyo ran a tight ship and there was no questioning that she was in charge around there.

Jeongyeon chuckled as she responded, “Who else has been disrespecting you? Not that I’m shocked at all.”

Nayeon thought back to that night, or rather very early morning in Mr Kim’s, and the girl who teased her almost the same way her friends were right now. Smiling to herself, “No one it’s just a saying.”

“Uh huh. Laundry. Now,” Jihyo pointed at the basket while serving Nayeon her best “mom” look. The older two established long ago that Jihyo had that look on her face all the time.

“Alright alright. Give me a minute I’m starving,” her hands up in surrender, walking towards the kitchen.

“Im Nayeon you are still walking away from this damn basket get your ass back here and put it in your room!” Jihyo started grabbing clothes from the basket and throwing them in Nayeon’s direction hoping to prompt the girl to actually move it.

“If you want me to put it away why are you throwing it everywhere it makes a bigger mess?” Nayeon bent to pick up a couple stray shirts while Jihyo pulled out a hoodie to launch at the older girl’s face.

“To teach you a les-” Jihyo stopped before she even started swinging, the words on the hoodie confusing her. “Since when do you do ballet?”

Nayeon froze, bent over reaching for a sock and face quickly going red. “What do you mean I’ve never done ballet, I was too stiff.” She wanted to the conversation to be over quickly to save herself from the embarrassment. She walked over to Jihyo to grab the hoodie.

“Let me see it.” Jeongyeon finally found something more interesting than the magazine in her lap. Jihyo balled it up and tossed it to her before the oldest could grab it from her.

“Ok guys seriously give it back so I can put my laundry away. Jihyo this is defeating the purpose of me doing what you want.”

“Seoul University Ballet and Modern Dance Competition 2016. Why do you have this if you never did ballet? Do you even know any ballerinas?” Jeongyeon turned to hoodie around, reading what Nayeon has missed on the back. “Myoui? Who’s that?”

“Do you have a girlfriend we don’t know about?” Jihyo practically screamed at Nayeon, jumping up so fast she almost didn’t see her do it.

At that point Nayeon would rather do anything than explain as to why she has that hoodie. Awkwardly chuckling, “Funny story really, it is.”

 

“So let me get this straight. Which is nothing about this situation because that sounds pretty gay to me.” Jeongyeon was still trying to process what Nayeon just told them. “You were at Mr. Kim’s at 2 in the morning.”

“Again,” Jihyo interjected, giving Nayeon a look that was nothing short of pure judgement. Nayeon flipped her off in return.

“You had an essay due in 7 hours and two loads of laundry going.”

“Why is the amount of loads I had relevant?” Nayeon was still blushing beet red from the story she just told her friends and just wanted Jeongyeon to drop the topic. She started to fold all of the laundry that Jihyo had thrown around the room.

Jeongyeon shushed her and waved her hand to dismiss what Nayeon just said. “Let me continue. One of your loads turned bright pink, so you started yelling about everything and blaming a lot of things, all of which were your fault.” Nayeon had to admit that one hurt a little bit. “You run into this mystery girl and scream like a bitch baby right in her face.”

“Oh my god what is the point of this I already told you what had happened,” the oldest buried her head in her hands, her voice sounding muffled.

“She wasn’t scared off right away and proceeded to do her laundry. She didn’t have enough coins, you offered to let her throw her loads in with yours-”

“Which is a little weird by the way I wouldn’t have put my laundry in with a stranger’,” Jihyo interrupted again.

“Jesus fuck I was being nice, she said her dorm’s machines were out of order. What was the harm in offering?” Nayeon tried to justify herself.

“Let me finish please. So she puts her load in and you two what, just talk the whole time?” the tallest of the trio was really hoping for some juicy details.

“Yeah I said that already. We just talked.” At this point Nayeon had finished refolding her laundry that Jihyo had thrown across the room, the hoodie laying on the table between the other two girls.

Jeongyeon threw her arms up in exasperation, “Well what was the point of that? You two didn’t even make out a little bit?”

“No we didn’t why on earth would that have happened? We just met.”

“Wasted potential there my friend. Was she pretty? If she was pretty you should of banged her in the closet or something.”

_Believe me she was beautiful and I wanted to bang her right there against the mach-. NO! Bad Nayeon. Stop that!_

Jihyo’s voice pulled Nayeon away from thoughts of Mina. “Ok while this is been entertaining and I did very much enjoy torturing Nayeon, how are you fixing this? How are you going to give her her hoodie back?”

Nayeon was stumped with that one. “I didn’t really think about that one. I mean I guess I’ll just take it with me every time I go back and hope I run into her.”

“Yeah, no that sounds dumb and won’t work. Where did she say she worked? You could just drop it off and have one of her coworkers give it back to her.” Jeongyeon tossed the hoodie back to Nayeon, it landing on her head and covering her face.

Pulling it off her head, “She didn’t specifically say. I think she said it was at a diner near the college she goes to. Plus, she didn’t just leave the hoodie there’s some socks and-” she really wished she would have left her mouth shut, “- underwear in there too.” Her voice trailed off at the end but the other two still managed to catch it.

“You have some random girl’s underwear in here? Dude what the fuck?” Jeongyeon started rifling through the basket trying to find which pair didn’t belong to her friend.

“Stop being a perv Jeong. Nayeon you do know that we all go to the same college right? So she probably works at the diner that’s like 2 streets over. Just take her stuff to her after class tomorrow,” Jihyo pointed out.

“How do you know we go to the same college? She didn’t tell me what school she went to.” Nayeon was confused on how they figured that out because Seoul had a lot of colleges.

Jeongyeon just held up the hoodie in Nayeon’s direction while Jihyo pointed, both of them sporting the same “You’re a fucking idiot” face.

_Seoul University. Oh my god I’m a fucking idiot why didn’t I realize that sooner?_

“I’m so dumb,” the oldest said while cradling her forehead.

“I could have told you that one. Now as fun as this little situation has been, I have to go,” the youngest claimed, picking up her stuff to head out the door.

“Going on a date again?” Jeongyeon cheekily asked her. Nayeon was glad the focus was not longer on her.

“It’s not a date we’re just hanging out. Besides she’s still in high school. We are strictly friends.” Jihyo now looked slightly flustered with the attention now being on her and her plans.

“Yeah but you would date her if the situation allowed it,” Nayeon shot back with a knowing smile.

“I seriously have to leave if I don’t want to keep her waiting. Don’t you two cause any trouble while I’m gone,” she replied, opening the door.

“Have fun cradle-robber. Use protection!” Jeongyeon yelled before Jihyo could fully close the door, “Tell Tzuyu “hi” from both of us!”

They only got the slam of the door in response.

The troublesome duo was left laughing at their younger friend’s love life. Nayeon, not wanting to hear any more taunts from Jeongyeon, grabbed the laundry basket and finally took it into her room. She sat at the computer checking to see if any of her professors had emailed her about any assignments. She turned and stared at the hoodie laying in the top of the basket, wondering when she would see the owner again, hoping it was sometime very soon.


	4. Ch 4

Nayeon doesn’t make another trip to Mr. Kim’s for another 4 days. This time she’s there at a more reasonable hour, but not to wash her clothes. All the times she’s bothered him at 2 in the morning made them grow a close relationship and she enjoys stopping by from time to time to visit him and catch up.

“Nayeon-ah” is the first thing she heard when she walked in the door. The old man greeted her with a big smile and a warm hug, inviting her into the back area to sit and drink some tea with him. The first time he asked her to join her in the back, she thought he was just some perverted old man trying to take advantage of her, but he turned out to be one of the sweetest people she knew. He was just looking for someone to talk to and get to know. She considered him her second father.

“Hey Mr. Kim, it’s been a while hasn’t it?” she asked him, smile on full force, knowing he loved seeing her happy. He smiled back, pouring her a cup of tea.

“Yes it has been a while. But I did see you the other morning when I was checking security tapes. That was a very pretty girl you were with. Who was that? Did you finally find yourself a girlfriend?” Nayeon coughed a little bit around the drink she had just taken, not expecting him to ask her that.

“Uh- hm. Well, no she’s not. In fact I had only met her that morning. I don’t know what you could see from the tapes but I kind of screamed in her face the second I saw her,” she responded sheepishly.

He just stared at her with a smirk on his face, “Oh trust me I saw it. The poor girl looked so startled I thought she was going to pass out. A wonderful first impression. I’m sure she won’t forget you for a long time.”

Nayeon buried her head in her hands, whining from the teasing, “Yah, she scared me. I was ranting about all the crap going wrong at the moment.” She pouted to him trying to get some sympathy out of the old man. He just reached over and ruffled her hair up, making her look like a pitiful mess.

“You seemed really interested in her from what I could see. And it’s a really tiny screen so you were probably being very obvious.” Nayeon pulled her her hood over head and groaned into it, tired of the relentless jabs.

Pulling the hood off, she fixed her hair as she playfully glared at Mr. Kim. “She was pretty and nice and it was 2 am. I might never see her again as far as I know. I barely know anything about her I think it was just nice to have someone to talk to about school struggles.”

Mr. Kim waved her off, taking their now empty tea cups and rinsing them out in the small sink. Nayeon took this as a sign that she needed to get going. The old man wrapped her in another tight hug, both reluctant to let go. With tears in his eyes he asked, “When are you going to come back? An old man like me doesn’t get very many visitors. I really do enjoy seeing you Nayeon.”

“Actually I’ll be here again at my usual time this morning. It’s laundry day again,” she gave him a watery smile in response, also sad to part ways for a while again.

“Fingers crossed your mystery girl comes back this morning too.” She rolled her eyes in response to that, waving as she walked out the door and to her car. Her fingers were crossed too.

 

2 am rolled around fast and Nayeon found herself back in the laundromat, empty as always and way too brightly lit. She didn’t have a headache this time, or an essay to stress about, so the lights didn’t bother her as much this time. She was dressed in sweats and her favorite hoodie, equipped with her blanket and pillow fully prepared to relax and sleep a little bit in-between her loads.

She set right to claiming her usual two washers, but instead of only separating the whites from the rest of the colors, she sorted a bunch of like-color piles. That one meeting with Mina made her change her routine a little, wanting to get in the habit of this to lessen the risk of her clothes changing colors again. She ended up with 4 smaller loads, not minding having to spend a little extra money to wash all of them like that. She picked up two of them and dumped them into the two machines, deposited the coins, and started them.

Settling down to wait for the machines to finished, she grabbed her pillow and blanket and got comfortable on the floor, quickly dozing off. She didn’t fall asleep, knowing that if she did she wouldn’t hear the machines going off.

But the machines going off isn’t what roused her from her little nap. Something kept kicking her feet, preventing her from staying relaxed. She peeked her head up and saw someone’s shoe lightly nudging her exposed foot. Nayeon trailed her eyes up to the leg, waist, chest, head of the person, finding that devilishly attractive smirk greeting her.

“Wake up sleeping beauty,” that gentle voice teased her. Mina’s smirk turned to a gentle smile seeing the older girl struggle to keep her eyes open. The younger girl had her hair up in a ponytail this time, something that made Nayeon’s knees weak even laying down.

“I’m going to ignore the disrespect and focus on the fact that you called me a beauty,” Nayeon said sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She just looked up at the other girl, watching as she set her basket down and started putting her pre sorted loads in the couple machines right next to Nayeon’s. She sat down in the aisle across from Nayeon when she was done, yawning as she settled down.

“Did you just get off work again?” Nayeon asked, spreading the blanket over her legs. She took in the other girl’s dark circles, sagging shoulders, and overall just exhausted appearance. _Probably what I look like at this point._

“No actually. I didn’t work today but I’m out of clean work shirts so I need to wash them before my shift tonight.” Mina started to retreat into herself, trying to ward off the couple shivers she had. She was only wearing a thin long sleeve and pants, not prepared for the cooler night they were having.

Nayeon lifted up one side of her blanket. “Hey get over here and warm yourself up.”

Mina looked at her in surprise, causing Nayeon to regret even opening her mouth.

_Way to go you fucking idiot. You met this girl once and now you’re offering to share a blanket? Way to sound like a creep._

She was snapped out of her own thoughts by the feeling of the blanket moving and Mina settling right next to her. The other girl adjusted the blanket so that it was still covering the both them, their knees knocking together with how close they had to sit. They turned and just looked at each other, amused grins on both of their faces.

“Why aren’t you wearing a little bit more more it’s cold outside. You could have grabbed a hood-” Nayeon choked on the last word, remembering one crucial detail about all of this. She jumped up, tearing through her basket for Mina’s belongings. She cursed out loud when she realized she didn’t have them with her, having forgotten them at home. She felt a hand at the small of her back, comforting her and calming her down a little bit.

“Are you ok? What are you looking for?” Mina stood next to her now, having gotten up right after she had out of worry for the older.

“You accidentally left some of your clothes mixed in with mine from last time. I guess you thought at you had grabbed everything, but you left a hoodie, some socks, and a pair of-” Nayeon hesitated, cheeks now glowing red from the thought have some of Mina’s underwear in her possession. “Your hoodie is from a ballet competition from last year. It said “Myoui” on the back and I don’t know anybody with that name so I’m assuming it’s yours because, you know, you said you did ballet and-”

Mina cut Nayeon’s rant off by covering her mouth with her free hand. _Damn she’s really touchy today._ She really had no intentions of telling the other girl to stop, however.

“A couple things here. One, you ramble a lot did you know that? It’s really cute.” She took her hand off of Nayeon’s mouth. “Two, don’t worry about it I’m pretty sure we’ll run into each other again. You can just hold onto them until then.”

The beeping of Nayeon’s washers went off, separating the two girls. Mina pulled her other hand away, that spot on Nayeon’s back suddenly feeling very cold. She moved her loads into a couple of dryers and went to start them. Turning to the younger girl again, “You don’t need to be a cheapskate again do you?” she asked pointing at the machines with a teasing smile on her face. The other girl just glared at her, saying she had plenty of change this time around.

The rest of the night was just spent making some more small talk, the two girls mainly focused on getting their laundry done. They shared the blanket the whole time, Mina no longer feeling the chill from the colder temperatures. Far too quickly, they had their baskets full of their freshly washed, folded clothes, ready to part ways once again.

Mina took the first step, heading towards the doors and ready to get back to her dorm and sleep. Before she got too far though, Nayeon stopped her.

“Hey hold on a second.” Mina turned around, only to be met with Nayeon literally only inches away. The older girl wrapped her blanket around Mina, bunching it in the front for the younger to grab onto to prevent it from slipping.

“Wait I can’t take-” her protests were cut off.

“Yes you can actually. Hang onto it it’s cold out there. We’ll see each other again, won’t we?” Both girls had splitting smiles on their faces at that thought. Mina finally agreeing, offering one more “good night” and a promise from each girl to return the others’ items.

Nayeon went back and grabbed her basket, thinking to herself about all the good things this little laundromat brought her.

It wasn’t until she was laying in her bed thinking about this encounter did she realise how comfortable she was around what was virtually a stranger. She smiled a little thinking about how it seemed Mina felt the same way, hoping it wasn’t her just reading the signs all wrong. Hoping it meant something for the two of them.


	5. Ch 5

Nayeon was surprised to find another car already in the parking lot when she pulled up to Mr. Kim’s at her usual time. She thought the car may have looked familiar, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up thinking it belong to a certain someone. She walked in the door, scanned the far side of the laundromat and came up empty. She turned to walk to her usual spot, face splitting in two meeting the gaze of only person she would have hoped to see.

“Since when are you here before me? This is new.” She playfully asked, walking over and setting her basket next to Mina’s. She noticed that the girl’s basket was still full to the top, only a couple clothing items had been taken out. She didn’t have any machines running either.

“Yeah I only got here a couple minutes before you did.” Mina sat so she could face Nayeon on the bench, sorting her pile in front of her.

“Did you wait too long to do laundry or something? Your basket is really full.” Mina looked at her basket, comparing it to the size of Nayeon’s usual load. She had at least twice as many clothes than the older girl.

“Oh no it’s not all mine. Sana hasn’t had a chance to do her laundry so I’m doing it for her. We’re both a little behind and she’s out of her dance stuff.”

Nayeon furrowed her eyebrows at the unfamiliar name. “Who’s Sana?”

A sly smile appeared on Mina’s face. The younger stood with her first pile, dropping it into the machine. “She’s just someone.”

Nayeon could feel every shard of her heart breaking. The thought of Mina already having someone else was almost too much to handle. But she couldn’t jump to conclusions just yet because the other girl hadn’t said who exactly this “Sana” was. “Well I don’t know. You didn’t really say anything about who she is, you know is she your “friend Sana” or “your cousin Sana” or your “co-worker Sana” or something like that you just didn’t say anything so I’m just wondering who she-” a hand cut her off mid-ramble.

Mina was all of a sudden very close, standing over Nayeon who was cross-legged on the bench. Hand still firmly covering Nayeon’s mouth, her free hand tucked a bit of hair behind the other’s ear, hand lingering and cupping her jaw. “You’re rambling again,” she spoke ever so softly, gently. They just stared for a bit, relishing in the closeness of each other. Mina trailed her hand from Nayeon’s mouth, brushing her fingers along her cheek, down her jaw and neck, coming rest lightly resting on her pulse. Nayeon’s entire body felt like it was on fire, the light touches from the other driving her mad. The younger girl softly chuckled at the situation, explaining something they both knew they needed to hear. “She’s my best friend. I’ve known her since we lived in Japan. I came to this school not only because it had the program I was looking for, but because she chose this school too.”

She let go of Nayeon, grabbed another pile of laundry and loaded it into a machine. Turning as she closed it, she looked back at the older girl, still seeing her shell shocked on the bench. “You might also be happy to know that she’s been in a committed relationship for the past 2 years. You’ve probably heard of her girlfriend, she’s really pale and does that weird Gashina cover all the time.”

_Oh Eagle Girl. Never thought anyone could put up with her._

Nayeon’s heart was slowly piecing itself back together, the shock of her overreaction wearing off. Both of the girls could sense a change in their dynamic with the explanation from Mina. They both needed to hear it, needed to know that Mina wasn’t with anyone.

She got up and put one of her piles in the machine next to Mina’s, closing the door and starting it. A newfound silence lay upon the two. Nayeon glanced around, trying to come up with something to say other than “How have you been?” Before she could, Mina spoke up.

“A-Are you seeing anyone? Right now? In like, a romantic sense? Like are you dating anyone? You don’t have to answer that actually it doesn’t matter I was just curi-” she’s cut off by Nayeon’s laughter.

Fondly looking at the younger girl, “You’re starting to sound like me. And to answer your many questions, no. I’m not seeing anyone. I’m single.” They both knew there was no going back from this point. “It does matter. At least to me it does.”

They were standing so close to each other, leaning up against adjacent machines. Neither felt that it was close enough though, but neither one wanted to make the first move. Mina finally moved, but only to start the machines she had loaded up, prompting Nayeon to do the same. The girls worked in silence for a minute, standing and staring when they were done, not being able to find a conversation.

“Oh. I have your blanket,” the younger said walking over to grab it out of her bag. She awkwardly held it out to the other. “I haven’t had a chance to wash it yet, but I guess I could do that really quick.”

Nayeon just softly smiled, grabbing it from the girl and wrapping it around her own shoulders. She sat on the floor in front of one of her machines and holds one side of it open, to the younger. Mina smiled and sat next to her, legs flush together because of the small blanket. Nayeon wrapped the other girl up, adjusting it and making sure they were both covered. The younger girl burrowed herself into the older’s side, laying her head on her shoulder and resting her hand on her thigh.

Nayeon hoped the other girl couldn’t hear how hard her heart was beating. She couldn’t believe that this beautiful girl was cuddling up to her like this, her brain short circuiting because of the thumb currently rubbing circles on her upper thigh. Her mini freak out at the touchiness was interrupted by a sudden thought. “Oh shit.” Mina’s head popped up at that, eyes full of confusion about what caused the outburst. “I forgot your hoodie again.”

The younger girl softly laughed at the other’s ridiculousness. Nayeon turned and looked at the other girl, breath hitching because they were only inches away from each other. If she wasn’t head over heels for her, she damn well was now. The younger girl was smiling, still chuckling at Nayeon, only a breath away. Every instinct in her body was telling her to lean in, to kiss the younger girl and confirm that both of them wanted something more out of this.

She didn’t have to make the first move, though. Mina apparently had the same mindset, taking the initiative and leaning closer. Both girls were tentative, moving slowly to make sure that the other was still ok with this. Noses brushing and breaths ghosting lips, Nayeon moved to close the rest of the distance. She didn’t make it very far before the beeping of a washing machine went off, stopping the girls before they could meet. Nayeon sighed and glared at the machine over Mina’s head while the other girl buried her head in the crook of Nayeon’s neck. A muffled question reached her ears. “Is it mine or yours?”

Unwrapping the blanket from the two of them, she replied, “It has to be yours you put your stuff in before mine.” The younger girl whined at that, not wanting to get up and leave the older’s warmth. She stood up and transferred her clothes into a drier, starting it, and sitting down in her previous spot. Nayeon had the blanket ready for her, the two only just getting comfortable again, when another machine went off.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Both of them started laughing at what was happening. They knew that doing their laundry required them to actually work and get it done, but why do that when you can cuddle with a pretty girl? Mina got up again to move her second load into another dryer, moving a little slower as she knew that one of Nayeon’s machines was about to go off. When it did the older girl groaned and complained the whole time, as she had that first night they met.

The girls worked on their loads in silence, focusing on the small task at hand. When they were done, they just sat back down, wrapping themselves back up in the blanket and each other. They spent the rest of the time just like that. Sharing stories from school and their childhood, getting up when they needed to take care of their laundry, but coming right back to each other when they were finished. The older girl noticed that Mina had a need to be in contact with her at all times. Whether it was their knees brushing, her hand on her thigh, or just fingertips grazing on her wrist, the younger girl needed to be touching her. Neither of them were complaining about it.

Nayeon only had about half of what Mina had, finishing drying and folding all of her laundry before the other girl was even done washing hers. She put all of her stuff in her basket, setting it aside and sitting back down to help Mina fold her clothes.

“You really don’t have to stay and help me, I can finish all of this myself. You should go home and sleep.” Nayeon folded one last shirt and handed it to Mina, finishing off that load.

“And leave you here alone at almost 3 in the morning? No way. Plus you’ll have someone to talk to and keep you company. You’ll be bored to death without me.”

“Alright I guess you can stay then,” the younger replied playfully. “But you have to answer my question.”

Nayeon chuckled at the younger’s rule. “Anything.”

“Am I ever going to get my hoodie back?” The smirk on her face made Nayeon want to kiss her more than slap it off her face.

She really did keep meaning to bring it back she just keeps forgetting to put it in her basket. “Alright you little shit. Yes you are going to get it back. I’m sorry I just keep forgetting to grab it.”

“Well then in that case,” she stood and grabbed the blanket that had been left on the floor, wrapping it around herself and sat back down. “I get to keep this until you bring me back my stuff.”

Nayeon looked at her incredulously, mouth hanging open. “Oh I don’t think so. That’s my favorite blanket!”

“And that’s my favorite hoodie so we’re even.”

Nayeon reached for her blanket, “Nope give it back. You can’t have it.”

Laughing as she tried to dodge the other’s hands, “No, don’t it’s mine now”

Nayeon got a hold on her, arms around her waist trying to pull the blanket off. “Mina come on give it back! This is nowhere close to fair.” They kept shuffling around, laughter and small screams coming from both of them. Nayeon ended up tugging too hard, backing Mina into one of the machines, flush against her. They were both panting and a little flustered from their fight, and so, so close. Mina grabbed the collar of Nayeon’s jacket, somehow pulling her closer than they already were. Their lips brushed, driving the older one mad. “I’m going to kiss you this time, ok?”

She received an eager head nod in response. She moved to close the gap between them, but another machine cut them off. Ripping away from the younger girl, Nayeon started on a rampage towards the machine.

Pulling open the door with much more force than necessary, “I swear to god if another one of these damn machines prevents me from kissing a pretty girl, again, I’m going to burn this place to the ground.” She pulled the freshly dried clothes out of the machine and dumped them into Mina’s basket. Plopping down on the bench again, she started folding the clothes with a pout on her face. “Stupid machines and stupid excessive amounts of laundry and stupid pretty girls for stealing my favorite blanket. I’m having a wonderful night.” Her sarcasm was dripping off the wall at that point.

“You rant a lot. Do you need to work out some anger issues,” she teased the older. Joining her after collecting herself from their little moment, Mina sat and started to help. “So you think I’m pretty?” she asked, cheekily.

Chuckling absurdly, “Yes Mina, I think you’re really pretty.”

The girls made shy eye contact at that, finishing up the last bit of folding. “Well I think that’s it actually. Let me just double check the machines.” The younger got up to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything.

“You want to check my basket see if you’re forgetting something in there?” Nayeon asked, teasing the other. She only got a slap on her arm in response.

Mina lifted her basket onto her hips, tightening the blanket around her shoulders. “Thank you for staying and helping. You really didn’t have to do that.”

“Yeah but I wanted to. Besides I enjoyed spending more time with you.” She got up, grabbing her basket as well. They knew that it was the end of the night. They were going to go home separately and hope that this really wasn’t their last time seeing each other.

Nayeon acted on impulse alone, striding right up to the other and placing a gentle kiss on the corner of her mouth, lingering far longer than needed. She pulled back, looking at the other’s flushed face thinking she did not want this to end. She set her basket down and reached inside her bag, pulling out a post-it and a pen. Writing something on it, she handed the note over to Mina when she was done, the younger taking it and seeing a series of number written on it.

“Text me when you get home so I know you’re safe.” She picked up her basket and headed for the door, gesturing for the other to follow. “Come on it’s late and we both need to go get some sleep.”

They walked out together, loading their cars with their baskets and stood before each other when they were done. Mina was the brave one this time, wrapping her arms around Nayeon’s waist in hug, burrowing her face in her neck. Nayeon’s laughed and wrapped her arms around Mina’s shoulders, rubbing between her shoulder blades with her thumb. Both were reluctant to pull away, but they both really needed to go home. Nayeon placed one last kiss on her temple, so gentle Mina almost thought it didn’t happen, before turning and getting in her car. They pulled out of the parking lot in separate directions, heading to their own places.

Nayeon had already put all of her clothes away when she got a text. She didn’t recognise the number, knowing the only person that is could be at this hour.

[Unknown] _Hey it’s Mina. Just wanted to let you know that I’m home._

She smiled to herself at how professional the other girl sounded. She saved her number in her phone as “Mina~” with the ballerina emoji.

_Good! Go get some sleep it’s really late. I’ll text you tomorrow_

They exchanged one more “good night” text, both falling asleep with smiles and thoughts of the other girl.


	6. Ch 6

“You’ve only met up with this girl three times and she had you pinned against a dryer and almost kissed you?” Dahyun asked incredulously, sprawled in Sana’s lap. “Twice?”

“Isn’t that a little fast? I mean what do you actually know about this girl?” Sana asked.

“You’re the one to ask about moving fast? Didn’t you ask Dahyun on a date like, the day you met her?” Chaeyoung teased to oldest girl.

“No!” she protested. “It was the day after,” she finished, mumbling under her breath.

“In my defense, I had no idea it was a date because she was really vague about it. I thought she just wanted to meet up and get to know each other better. As friends.” They all chuckled at Dahyun’s response.

“I saw her once and I’d already fallen in love,” she replied, looking down at her girlfriend with lovesick eyes.

“I thought the first time you guys met, Dahyun was in one of those inflatable T-Rex costumes? And she tripped over something right in front of you.”

“That is not the point here Chaeyoung. The point is she was cute and I’m gay. Do the math.” Sana replied with a finger firmly pointed in the youngest’s direction, Dahyun and Mina still cracking up at the retelling of Saida’s first meeting. Sana got everyone’s attention by turning the topic back towards Mina. “Ok but seriously I at least waited like 2 months before even trying to kiss Dahyun. This is moving faster than normal.”

“It’s not like we just sat in silence all those times and she randomly decided to try and kiss me. We talk and we actually know a lot about each other.” She felt like she was defending herself properly. “We’ve never met up outside of Mr. Kim’s but at this point we aren’t total strangers.”

“If she asked you on a date would you say yes?” Mina’s face quickly turned bright red at Chaeyoung’s question. That was all the answer the others needed, laughing at the girl’s suffering.

“Shut up!” She hid her face in her hands, trying to get rid of all the color.

“You teased me about my pining for Dahyun. You’ve never had relationship drama for me to tease you about so I’m getting as much out of this as I can,” Sana replied to Mina, making her groan. She knew the older girl wasn’t going to let this go any time soon.

“This has been such good fun. But Dahyun and I have to meet up with Tzuyu. We’ve got a study session to get to.” Chaeyoung explained, standing up to collect her things. She pulled Dahyun up with her, the girl complaining the whole time. “I’m so comfy don’t make me leave. Sana unnie help me I don’t want to go.”

The older girl just smiled at her girlfriend’s whining. “You have to. You’ve got to be a better student and ace your tests.”

Dahyun, finding a sudden burst of energy to fight back, “I am in college already! They’re still in high school, why am I still going to study sessions? I end up studying different things and struggling on my own, while the other two help each other out with everything. It’s unfair and impractical really.” She stood with her hands on her hips, looking pointedly at Chaeyoung, feeling confident she won the argument.

“Fine I guess you’re not a part of School Lunch Gang anymore.” Chaeyoung turned to walk out, Dahyun hot on her tail to chase after her. “Wait, no I’m sorry. I still want to be a part of the club!”  
Their voices faded as they walked out the door and into the hallway.

The other two girls watched the duo walk out, Sana’s gaze lingering at the door after her girlfriend had already left. Mina picked up on it. “You’re still in the honeymoon stage even after two years of dating.”

Dreamily sighing, the older girl responded, “We’re in love I can’t help it.” She snapped out of it and her tone turned very business like. “This isn’t about me though I’m still focused on you. You are glued to your phone because you two text each other all the time. You go and do your laundry at 2 in the morning just to see this girl, when our laundry machines were fixed the day after you went that first day. You are so possessive over her blanket it’s practically your lifeline at this point. Why haven’t you just asked her on a date already?” Sana was fed up with her younger friend’s lack of action.

“I’m scared. What if she doesn’t like me back?” Mina was worried that Nayeon didn’t feel the same way she did.

“Are you kidding me? Mina, she had you backed against a washing machine fully prepared to ravage you. You really think she doesn’t feel the same way about you?” Sana’s expression was one of disbelief at Mina’s words, an expression normally directed at her.

Mina’s face flushed heavily again at thinking about Nayeon ravaging her. Her thoughts were running wild picturing it, barely registering that she was still in the middle of a conversation.

Mina’s phone buzzed, interrupting any response she planned on giving. She picked it up and read the message, “Laundry day?” A small smile on her face, Sana already picked up and who her friend was texting.

“I don’t have a lot of laundry do you need me to wash any of your stuff?”

“Why are you trying to make her jealous again?” Sana really seemed to enjoy that Nayeon got so worked up about Mina washing her laundry for her.

Mina shot the other girl a glare. “No actually I just don’t want to show up with only 3 things to wash.”

“Well I don’t have much but Dahyun keeps leaving some of her things here so I guess you could wash some of them for her.” Sana got up and walked into her bedroom to start collecting some clothes.

“I am not washing your girlfriend’s underwear so don’t even think about it. Shirt and pants and stuff like that is fine but keep the other things away from me.”

“Like I would even give you those things. They’re for her eyes only. And mine.”

Mina gagged at the last one. “You’re disgusting”

“Just think if you grow the confidence to confess to Nayeon, you could be this way too.” She walked back out and set a full basket by the door for when Mina needed it later. Mina stared at it, wondering if Sana was right. “You really think I could have a chance with her?”

“You are so dense. Yes I really think so. And I’ve never even met her. But from what you’ve told us about what you two do at the laundromat, I really think she likes you.” Sana placed a comforting hand on the younger girl’s shoulder and walked away.

The girls knew there wasn’t much else to be said. They went off and did their own things for a bit. Mina got stuck in her thoughts of Nayeon, wondering if she would be able to work up the nerve to ask her out the next time they meet. The older girl was much bolder than she was and she didn’t think she had it in her to ask Nayeon out. She just hoped that Nayeon would be brave enough to ask her.

She spent the rest of her day waiting to leave. It was the longest day she’d ever had, trying to keep busy but the time just moved so slow. Dahyun came back after her study session, tormenting Mina by being affectionate with Sana. Mina truly was happy that her best friend had found her someone, but she was lonely and needed something like that too. It wasn’t hard to imagine her and Nayeon like that, acting like two lovesick teenagers.

She ended up falling asleep for a little bit, setting an alarm so she wouldn’t sleep in and be late. When she woke up, she was out of the dorm in less than a minute, already prepared and just wanting to go see Nayeon. She drove a little too fast, thanking her luck that no police cars were along her route. The parking lot was empty when she got there, but headlights of another quickly appeared in her rearview. The car parked on her right side. She opened her door and stepped out, a voice greeting her ears.

“Do you know how fast you were driving? You’re lucky you didn’t get pulled over.” Teasing smile on Nayeon’s face. Mina just laughed and walked around her car to greet her. Before she could get her greeting out, Nayeon pulled her into a tight hug, arms wrapping around her waist. Mina wrapped her arms around the older girl, burying her face in her shoulder. They stood there for awhile, just embracing each other and basking in the presence of each other.

“As nice as this is, and as much as I’m enjoying this, it’s really cold out here. Can we go inside?” Nayeon’s breath on Mina’s ear sent shivers down her spine. They reluctantly pulled away from the hug and grabbed their baskets to head in. They settled into their usual area, separating their piles and loading their machines. They worked in silence for the most part, waiting until they could settle down to start talking. Mina taunted the older girl by holding out her blanket, seeing the look on Nayeon’s face the meant the older girl forgot her stuff again.

“I feel so bad because I keep forgetting to bring you your stuff. It’s not even funny at this point you’re probably really annoyed with me.” Nayeon really did feel horrible that she never remembered to grab the pile of Mina’s clothes.

Mina was just laughing at the older girl’s struggle. She was more amused than anything and didn’t mind that Nayeon never brought her stuff back. “I’ve got plenty of clothes still you don’t need to worry about it.” She moved to sit on the floor and draped the blanket across her lap. Nayeon followed her and sat down next to her, covering her lap with the blanket as well. Feeling bold, Mina laid her head on her shoulder and curled up into Nayeon’s side. Nayeon wrapped her arm around her shoulders, bringing her in closer.

Both of them were starting to get trapped in their thoughts of how quickly they’d grown comfortable with the other. This was only their fourth time meeting and they were easily accustomed to being so touchy with each other. Nayeon knew that trying to kiss Mina twice the last time they’d seen each other was going too far. She needed to take things slow and try and figure out what exactly the two girls had.

Mina didn’t want to get lost in her thoughts anymore than she already had and broke the silence that had settled on them. “Did you have a good Christmas?”

“Oh yeah I did. I hadn’t seen my family in a while so it was nice to see them again. We baked cookies and all that and it was really fun opening presents together. My dog got tangled up in the wrapping paper.” They both laughed at that. “My parents kept asking me when I was going to introduce my boyfriend to them, but I’ve told them so many times that I don’t want a boyfriend. They can’t let it go though.” She took a deep breath, glancing at Mina. Well it’s now or never. “I don’t even like boys.”

Mina’s eyes widened at Nayeon’s confession. She slowly lifted her head off her shoulder, looking at the other girl. She had never looked so weak than right then, she was always the bold one, making advances the younger girl could never dream of. She was hiding behind her hair, face flushed at having just come out to Mina. She took Nayeon’s hand in support. “Have you told your parents?”

Nayeon scoffed at the idea. “No I can’t even dream of doing that. They’re not ok with that kind of stuff.”

“Neither were my parents until I told them. I’m their daughter and I guess they changed their minds about it. I think that’s the only reason they did change their minds, because I am their daughter” Nayeon’s head snapped to Mina at her words. She looked at the younger girl incredulously. Mina squeezed her hand a little harder. “I know we’re not the same person, and our parents aren’t the same, but maybe if you ever do come up with the courage to tell them, they’ll support you because you’re their daughter and they should always love you.”

The older girl seemed fazed at everything that had just happened. “So-” She didn’t really know how to ask what was on her mind. “So like- are you, you know? Are you- Do you like-” She seemed to be searching for the right word. “Guys?”

Mina bursted out in laughter, but collected herself when she saw Nayeon’s face fall. “No no I’m not laughing at you. You’re just cute when you ramble. I wasn’t expecting that.”

Nayeon nodded, understanding what she meant. They say silently for a while, running the new information around in their heads. Never getting her answer, the older girl asked again. “Well do you?”

“No”

“Ok. Cool.”

“Yeah.”

Their hands were still entwined, both of them couldn’t tear their eyes away from the sight. Nayeon broke the silence again. “How was your Christmas?”

“It was good. I went home and my brother came home from school too. We had a nice little dinner and opened presents and it was very relaxing.”

“I’m going to get you something for Christmas. What do you want?” She turned to look at the younger girl who was staring straight ahead.

“My hoodie back.”

Nayeon shoved her over, causing Mina to break into a fit of laughter. “Alright you little shit. I’m sorry, ok. I keep forgetting your clothes and I feel bad already.” She firmly pointer her finger in the other girl’s face. “I’m going to get you back for that.”

The rest of their time went smoothly. They joked and laughed and told stories, tending to their laundry when need be. It was just like any other time they’d spent together. The night passed quickly, too quickly for the girls. They both just needed to fold their laundry and leave, but one thing was still on their minds. Neither one of them wanted to bring up the two almost kisses, and then the two kisses Mina did get from Nayeon. But it had been on their minds this whole time, they were just skirting around the topic.

“Nayeon unnie?”

The aforementioned girl looked up from folding her laundry, letting Mina know she was listening.

“You tried to kiss me.” She locked eyes with the other girl, knowing she was sporting the same blush as her. “Twice,” she added after a breath.

Nayeon found the shirt in her hand more interesting than the girl sitting across from her. “Yeah. I did.”

“Do you regret it?” the younger girl asked meekly.

“No. What? Why would you think that?” Nayeon was feeling very hot and little embarrassed. She was so confident in herself at that time, but now all of it was just gone.

“I don’t know we just haven’t talked about it since then. We’ve been texting since it happened, but it was never brought up so I thought you had maybe changed your mind about it.”

Nayeon didn’t know how to answer, her silence leading Mina to think the older girl really had changed her mind. The look of heartbreak on the younger’s face tore apart Nayeon’s own heart. She couldn’t stop the younger girl from gathering her things and leaving without so much as a “goodbye”.

“Mina! Wait!” Nayeon rushed to grab her things, clothes threatening to spill out of her basket with how haphazardly she had grabbed it. “Mina just wait.” She caught the girl right before she could round her car to the driver’s side, slamming the passenger’s door after putting her basket in it. Nayeon didn’t even care about her basket and dropped it to the ground, grabbing the girl when she tried to walk away. She fought back, hitting the older girl to get her to let go, but Nayeon was as stubborn as always.

“You gave me your answer already. We can just move past this.” She still struggled in Nayeon’s arms, but the older girl was not letting up.

“Yeah and I told you I didn’t regret it.”

“It looked like you changed your mind back there so just let me go and we can both go home.”

Nayeon let her go, but stayed right in her path, not letting her walk away. “Mina I’m a fucking idiot. I didn’t know how to answer you so instead of saying that, I just stayed quiet. Which wasn’t the smartest thing to do because look at us we’re fighting in a laundromat parking lot at almost 4 in the morning.” Mina didn’t seem to find the same humor in it. “I don’t regret almost kissing you. Not one bit.” It didn’t seem like either of the had anything left to say and there was nothing left to do except for them to leave and go home. Nayeon turned first and opened her door, prepared to step in.

“Will you go on date with me?” Mina’s voice carried over from over her own car, rushed and shy. Nayeon turned to look at her, noticing her expression was one of panic. She smiled softly at how cute the younger girl was, answering her before her internal torture continued. “Yeah. I’d love to.”

Mina’s expression quickly turned to one of relief, and then joy. “Cool. I’ll uh- I’ll text you. Tomorrow.”

“Sounds great.” She turned to get in her car, shooting the other a quick “goodnight” before closing the door. They pulled out, going their separate ways again, smiles on their faces at the excitement of their upcoming date.


	7. Ch 7

“Dinner and a movie?”

“No you won’t be able to talk to her during the movie.” Nayeon nodded at Jihyo’s reasoning.

“Yeah but you could sit in the back row and make out the whole time.” Jeongyeon received a pillow to the face at that.

“What about a walk around the city? They’ve still got lights up and stuff? That’s like, romantic, right?”

“It’s below freezing outside. It’s too cold even for that cute _oh let’s hold hands and I’ll give you my scarf and we can huddle really close stuff._ ” Jihyo had more good reasoning for why that wouldn’t work.

“Ooh what about a picnic?” Momo added, excited she was able to contribute. Nayeon pointed a finger at Momo with an expression of agreement, looking back and forth at Jeongyeon and Jihyo at the girl’s great suggestion.

“Again, it’s way too cold for a picnic. And why am I not surprised that your mind went straight to food?” Jeongyeon explained, shooting Momo a knowing look. Momo stuck her tongue out in return.

Nayeon dropped her head into her hands. She was growing frustrated that they couldn’t just figure this out. She didn’t need something extravagant, but she wanted something special for Mina. She didn’t want to take her on a really cliche date, but she didn’t have anything unique to do either.

Mina said that she would text her, but got caught up in work and forgot to. Nayeon offered to call her once she had an idea and set a day and time. If only she could come up with the idea.

“What about like a museum date? We could walk around and look at the-” she didn’t really know how to finish that thought, “stuff?”

“The stuff? What museum would you take her to?” Jihyo felt bad for Nayeon, but loved teasing her love sick friend.

“The Art Museum. No the Science Museum. No I don’t even know if she likes Science. The Dance Museum? Is there a Dance Museum?”

The other three busted out in laughter at how hopeless she sounded.

“No I don’t think there is a dance museum.” Jihyo was on her phone scrolling through something. When she found what she was looking for, she brightened up. “But lucky for you, the temperature is supposed to rise a little bit on Sunday. So you can take her out then and go do something. It’s still below freezing, but not as frigid as it is right now.”

“And it looks like it’s supposed to snow. Maybe you can invite her up here to watch the first snow together.” Jeongyeon read Jihyo’s phone over her shoulder.

Nayeon’s brain was working overtime, finally coming up with the perfect date idea. A smiled creeped its way onto her face. “No. I’ve got a better idea.”

“Ok but does it involve food? Because if it doesn’t my idea is still better.”

All three of them threw a pillow at Momo.

 

“How much longer do you think she’s going to just stare at it?” Chaeyoung quietly asked Dahyun. The duo had been watching Mina just stare at her phone for a few minutes, but the girl had been doing so for much longer.

She sat at the table, one leg pulled up resting her arm on it, worryingly biting at her thumb. She just sat and stared at her phone laying on the table in front of her. The two girls looked away for a moment, hearing the door open, signifying that Sana was home from class. Mina didn’t move a muscle.

Sana walked in, greeting her girlfriend and younger friend. She eyed Mina at the table. “What’s she doing?”

“Probably waiting for a call. I don’t really know. She’s been like that for almost an hour.” Dahyun answered her, nuzzling into Sana’s shoulder. The older girl hummed at the response, rubbing her back in return and placing a kiss on top of her head.

“Let me put my stuff away and change and I’ll be right back.” The duo sat at the table, Dahyun next to Mina and Chaeyoung at the opposite end of the table, across from Mina. Their door opened again, notifying the younger two that Tzuyu had arrived, but again Mina didn’t move at all. Seeing them all at the table, Tzuyu didn’t even question what was happening, moving to sit on Mina’s other side. When she settled she looked back and forth at the table’s occupants. “What are we doing?”

Sana walked back out, sitting next to Dahyun and resting her head on her shoulder. The four girls just stared at Mina who didn’t even seem to notice the audience that had gathered. Sana got an idea all of a sudden, whispering to her girlfriend what her plan was. The couple sported wicked grins and leaned to the younger two to tell them what they were plotting. It didn’t take long for them to jump into action because Mina’s phone started to ring. She moved quickly to grab it, having been expecting it. Unfortunately for her, Sana was faster, snatching it up and answering it. Mina tried to yell and grab at it, but Tzuyu slapped a hand over her mouth and wrapped her up, preventing her from moving to reclaim her phone. Chaeyoung and Dahyun grabbed a hold of a leg each to prevent her from kicking her way out.

Sana pressed the speakerphone button after answering. “Hello?”

Nayeon’s voice crackled through the phone. “Uh, hi? Who is this?” Tzuyu’s head popped up at the voice, trying to place where she had heard it before.

Mina struggled against her captors, but the three younger girls showed a surprising feat of strength.

“Sana. Mina’s a little preoccupied and can’t come to phone right now.”

The disdain was very clear in Nayeon’s voice. Mina had made it very clear that she and Sana were just friends, but she still didn’t really like hearing her name. “Oh. Ok should I call back later?”

“Oh no she’ll be here in just a minute. Just hang tight.” She smirked Mina still squirming and trying to escape, yelling into Tzuyu’s hand.

“Um is everything ok? Why is someone yelling? Is something wro-”

“She just bit me!” Tzuyu clutched her hand to her chest, letting go of her captive.

Sana barely had time to react to that before Mina surged forward, having surprised her captors, and snatched her phone back, running to her room and locking herself in. She slid down the door, trying to catch her breath.

“What is happening? Why is someone biting people?” Mina took the phone off speakerphone, placing it against her ear instead. She chuckled as she gave her answer. “Because my friends are insane and were holding me captive.”

“Were you the one biting people?” Nayeon could barely get her question out from laughing so hard.

“They stole my phone from me before I could answer it.” She was still breathing heavily from the whole fiasco.

“Some friends huh?” Nayeon asked still chuckling.

“Yeah they’re something else.” She hadn’t heard anything outside her door since she ran in there. She figured they were all standing outside her door listening to her conversation.

“Hey so I’ve got a question for you.”

Mina knew it was about their date, blushing lightly even though she was only on the phone with Nayeon. “Yeah go ahead.”

“Are you free on Sunday? Around 6:00?”

She had to check her work schedule to see, relieved that she had the day off. “Yes I am. What did you have in mind?”

“Well that would ruin the surprise now wouldn’t it.” She could practically hear the older girl’s teasing grin through the phone. “Bundle up. We’re going to be outside a bunch. And bring a couple of blankets.”

“The only way you’re getting your blanket back is when I get my hoodie, if that’s what you mean.” She sat on her bed, running her hand over said blanket that was on top.

“Not what I meant. Just bring some you’ll need them for afterwards.”

She didn’t know what Nayeon meant by that, but decided to just do what the girl said. “Ok. Sounds like a plan. Should I meet you there?”

“Actually I was hoping I could pick you up and drive us there. If that’s ok with you?” Nayeon asked, sounding very timid

“Yeah that’s perfectly fine. I’ll text you my address.”

She heard the sigh of relief come from the older. “Ok cool. I’ll see you Sunday, than?”

“Yeah I’ll see you then.” They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Mina clutched her phone to her chest, biting her lip while thinking about her upcoming date. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Rising from the bed she walked slowly to the door, stepping to the side before unlocking and opening it. Three faces greeted her, all with knowing grins on their faces. She peeked her head down the hallway, seeing Tzuyu scroll on her phone while laying on the couch. She raised an eyebrow at her when she looked up.

“Oh I don’t care about that part. I was excited to help with pinning you down and torturing you, but I don’t care about the parts with actual feelings.” Mina quirked an eyebrow at the explanation, accepting it.

She turned back to the other three, seeing their expecting looks. She couldn’t do anything to stop the smile creeping onto her face. “I have a date.”

They exploded in noise, jumping up and down in excitement. A chorus of “when” and “where” stuck out. “Um Sunday at 6:00 and I don’t know where actually”

“Oh my gosh she’s surprising you that’s so cute.” Dahyun wrapped her arms around Mina’s shoulders in her excitement.

“Ok that’s in 4 days. We have planning to do.” Sana grabbed Mina and dragged her to the living room. The other girls followed, eager to help Mina do her part in perfecting her date.


	8. Ch 8

Snow fell for hours on Sunday, leaving 5 inches of white powder covering every nook of the city. Couples spent the day together, appreciating the first snow of the year. Meanwhile most of the residents of Nayeon’s apartment spent the day lounging and loathing their singleness. Nayeon had a date to look forward to, but as of that moment, she was still suffering along with Momo and Jeongyeon.

Tzuyu had come over early that morning to spend the day there, hanging out with Jihyo mainly. Seeing the two act like a couple was torturing the other three. Jeongyeon just ignored them, spending the day trying to get Momo to clean up the disaster in her room. Momo just spent the day stuffing her face with food.

As the day dragged on, and 6:00 drew nearer, Nayeon grew restless. She had her outfit laid out and ready, extra blankets for later, and a timer set on her phone for when she needed to make the hot chocolate for them. She was just tired of waiting. And of Tzuyu. She was tired of Tzuyu.

“Why are you so jumpy today? Just calm down you’re annoying me.” The young girl sleepily eyed Nayeon. She had been dozing off and on, cuddled inbetween the back of the couch and Jihyo. Her head rested on the older girl’s chest and Jihyo ran her fingers through her hair. Whenever she would stop Tzuyu would grumble, signalling the other to continue to soothing motions. The softest blanket they owned was thrown over to top of them, making both girls warm and sleepy and soft.

“Kids these days not respecting their elders. Your girl’s got a mouth on her,” she directed at Jihyo.

She only chuckled in response then tightened her hold on the girl on top of her.

“Ok lovebirds we get it you’re dating. But please keep in mind the singles in front of you.” Momo complained, throwing a chip at Jihyo’s head. Jihyo only picked it up and threw it back at her.

“We’re not dating.” replied the duo simultaneously.

“Yeah and I’m not Japanese.” Tzuyu shot Momo a glare.

“Leave them alone Momo. Just because they’re in denial doesn’t mean we have to tease them.”

“We really aren’t dating. We’re just friends.” Tzuyu was growing especially frustrated with Jihyo’s friends. Jihyo just hushed her. “Just ignore them. Go back to sleep. I’ll be right here.” Tzuyu complied and was out again in less than a minute.

Nayeon looked at the time on her phone, seeing it was barely past 4:00. She huffed and stood up, deciding to start getting ready in order to keep busy for the next while. She didn’t need to start the drinks until right before she needed to leave to get Mina. She had received the girl’s address first thing that morning, looking it up on her phone and finding the best route. They only lived 10 minutes away from each other, meaning she didn’t have to leave until it was almost 6:00. Nayeon was just tired of sitting and doing nothing.

She dressed herself, wearing layers to keep warm in the cold outside. She pulled on a pair of dark wash jeans and laughed to herself, pulling her hoodie on, or more importantly Mina’s ballet hoodie. She took her time doing her hair, just straightening it and leaving it down, planning on wearing a hat. She lounged in her room for a while longer before walking back out to the living room. She walked in right when Jeongyeon asked a very important question.

“Tzuyu what’s up with the bandages on your hand?” Everyone zoned in on the white bandage on the girl’s hand. Concerned, Jihyo grabbed her hand and examined it, worry displayed all over her face.

“Oh. My friend bit me,” she answered, nonchalantly.

All four girls looked at her incredulously. _Man what a coincidence. Mina bit her friend yesterday._

Momo was the first to break the silence. “Did it hurt?”

Tzuyu sat up, looking at the girl with a sense of bewilderment. “She _bit_ me! Yeah it hurt.”

Nayeon could almost hear her brain pop everything into place. That exact phrase from the other day playing over and over in her head. “You know Mina?” she yelled at the poor girl.

Tzuyu looked a combination of startled and confused. “I know a Mina yes. Why does that matter?”

“Because I’m going on a date with her in an hour.”

It was almost comical how many emotions flashed across Tzuyu’s face. Shock, repulsion, wonder, betrayal, and finally disgust. She steeled herself again. “Good luck with that. She bit me. Like with her teeth and everything. I bled.”

Jihyo just wrapped her up, shoving her face into her chest. “Oh you poor baby. It’s ok unnie’s here. I’ll take care of you.” She fake babied Tzuyu until she finally shoved the older girl away, hair a complete mess.

Nayeon didn’t really know how to process this information. “How long have you known Mina?”

“Like two years or something. I met her after Sana and Dahyun started dating. Me and Dahyun were really good friends in high school. I mean we still are, but we don’t see each other as much because she’s in college now. I’m not super close to Mina though.”

Nayeon chest hurt at that. “So you’ve known her this whole time?”

“Yes.” She shifted in her seat a little. “Wait. So are you the one she goes and does laundry with?”

“Yep.”

“That’s so gross. Knowing it was you she was talking about all the time. I mean she was like a lovesick puppy talking about how great you are and how pretty you and and how funny you are. But she was really talking about you this whole time?” The look of disgust on her face made Jeongyeon and Momo finally lose it, having been enjoying the little show being put on. “She needs to see a doctor because how can she think that stuff about you?”

“Hey! I’m a pretty ok person.” Everyone cracked up a that comment. Before she could really yell at all of them her alarm went off, signifying that she needed to start making the drinks. She quickly left the room, heading to the kitchen and grabbing a couple of thermos’. She finished relatively quickly, filling the canisters with piping hot cocoa. She checked the time on her phone, deciding to grab her things and leave.

She walked to her room, grabbing her bag. She put the thermos’ in the side pockets for travel. She slipped on her boos and coat, wrapping her scarf around her neck and placing her hat on her head. She took it off and fixed it a couple of times before she found where she wanted it to be. The butterflies started to kick in when she reached for the door.

“We don’t even get a goodbye?” Jeongyeon yelled at her.

“Tzuyu please don’t be here when I get back,” was what she offered. She left before she could hear their responses, slamming the door behind her.

Meanwhile Mina wasn’t doing much better than Nayeon was. She tried to keep busy around the dorm all day, cleaning and tidying, and then recleaning the same rooms because she just needed to distract herself. Same as Nayeon, she had her outfit laid out and blankets on standby, Nayeon’s on top of the stack. Sana and Dahyun enjoyed watching the snow together, but got most of their entertainment from watching Mina rush around all day.

Eventually Mina just crashed, laying on the floor spread out, one arm over her eyes. Waiting was just tearing her apart, and 6:00 could not come fast enough.

“Mina just relax. You don’t want to wear yourself out before your date.” Sana tried to sooth her younger friend.

Mina just grumbled incoherently before sighing. “What time is it?”

“2:17”

She grumbled louder and rolled over, burying her face in the floor.

“Just go take a nap. You’ve been busy all day and trying to just wait it out will make only make things worse. Set an alarm, and even if that doesn’t work we’ll wake you up.” Dahyun tried to get her to relax some more.

Mina didn’t move for a little bit, or make any sound to acknowledge them. The other two were worried she hadn’t heard them, until she violently flopped back over and just stared at the ceiling. The way she was staring, it was like she was trying to find the answer up above her. She stood up and walked toward her room. “Yeah ok I’m setting my alarm for 4:30. If you don’t see me or hear me moving around by 4:40 come wake me up.” She slammed her door, ending the short lived conversation.

She laid down in her bed feeling restless. She didn’t know if she was going to be able to actually sleep, but she was out in a matter of minutes. She didn’t realize until her alarm went off that she actually did sleep.

She took her time, unlike the rest of the day, and didn’t rush to get herself ready. She walked out of her room to go finish getting ready in the bathroom. She decided to pull half of her hair back, just in case she decided to wear a hat. Just as she was satisfied with her outfit and how she looked, she got a text from Nayeon saying _On my way_.

She sprinted to the living room, interrupting the movie they were watching. “Shit! Guys I’ve got like 10 minutes until she’s here. How do I look?”

Chaeyoung had arrived sometime and was sitting with the couple on the couch. “You look great unnie!” She stood so she could walk around Mina, taking in every aspect of her outfit. “Really that sweater looks really good on you. And those pants are hugging your ass just right I’m sure Nayeon will like it.” She narrowly missed a slap fro Mina.

Sana and Dahyun sprung into action abruptly. “Ok let’s go. Coat. Boots. Bag. Blankets. Anything else you need?”

“No I think that’s it. Just help me with my stuff?” The girls nodded at her request.

“Ok you’ve got your boots on. Coat,” Sana handed Mina her coat to put on, helping her straighten it out, “and your scarf,” wrapping it around and adjusting it. “Ok make sure to grab your bag and we’ve got your blankets.”

Mina stepped out into hallway, turning back to look at her friends. They gave her supportive smiles and a couple thumbs up, sending her on her way. She walked down the couple flights of stairs and stood in the lobby, waiting for Nayeon to arrive. She saw a car pull in, stepping out of the building as a text came in.

_Hey I’m here._

She took a breath, thinking of all the positive things that have happened and are about to happen with this girl. Nayeon hopped out and greeted her, grabbing her things and putting them in the backseat. They stood in front of the still running car, just staring and smiling. Nayeon broke the silence between them, pulling Mina into a tight hug, both of them just melting into the other. “Hey stranger.”

Mina giggled. “Hi.” She lingered a bit in the embrace, before pulling away. “It’s freezing out here can we get going?”

“Yes! Yes let’s go,” the older replied frantically. Both girls stepped in the car, and Nayeon pulled away from the building when they got settled.

They drove in silence for a bit, Mina staring out the window at the winter wonderland. “So where are we going?” she asked after a while.

Nayeon just kept her eyes on the road, smirking to herself. “The surprise is ruined if I tell you.”

Mina just slumped in her seat at that, deciding to just wait and see where they went. “Can you at least tell me what all the blankets are for?”

“Well normally people use blankets when they’re cold, so.” She left her answer very open ended. Mina was left racking her brain for why they would need the blankets but couldn’t come up with an answer. Nayeon glanced and saw the look on her face, chuckling at the other girl’s expression.

_How is she so cute all the time?_ “Don’t worry about it ok? It’ll make sense.” She pulled onto a side road then, driving carefully on the untreated roads. Mina gazed out the window again, wondering where they were. “You’re not taking me all the way out here to kill me are you? And you made me bring my own blankets to wrap my body in?”

Nayeon laughed at her ridiculousness, pulling the car to a stop when they’d reached their destination. “Yes. I’m secretly a serial killer and you’re my next victim. Scream as loud as you want no one will hear you. And one of those is my blanket, so your theory is ruined” Nayeon opened her door and stepped out, leaving Mina in a daze at the older girl’s response. Mina laughed dryly at the joke. She looked out the window again, seeing that they were close to a wooded area. Nayeon walked around to the other side, opening Mina’s door and helping her out. The snow came up to tops of their boots, making the walk a little difficult. They grabbed their bags, and at Nayeon’s instructions, left the blankets in the car for later.

The older grasped Mina’s hand in her own, intertwining their fingers a beat later. She tugged on their hold, guiding the younger into the treeline. The moon shone through, leaving plenty of light for them to find their way. They started on the path, still able to differentiate even with the snow. They walked for about 5 minutes, pulling to stop when they got to a clearing. Trees no longer obstructed the moon, lighting the clearing in it’s gentle glow. Mina stood in awe, taking in the beautiful sight before her. Nayeon tugged their hands again, guiding her into the clearing, ruining the untouched snow before them. A massive log sat near the edge of the clearing, perfect for them to settle on and put their stuff down. They brushed the snow off and sat down, each taking their bags off and setting them down.

Nayeon pulled a tarp out of her bag, spreading it out and the ground and packing snow onto the edges to keep it down. She helped Mina off the log and they both sat down on it. They just looked at each amused and content with themselves. Mina took in their surroundings, taking in every aspect of their calm location. She looked back at the older, just watching her stare off into space. “So now what? Got any other surprises up your sleeve?”

“Well you see, this is the part where I thought we would just wing it. My parents used to take me and my sister here on picnics all the time when we were younger. I thought it would be a great place to appreciate the snow with a bit of peace and quiet.”

Things clicked in Mina’s brain a little bit. “Ah, so then-” she pointed back towards the path they just came from, “-the blankets are for when we get cold. Things are making sense now.”

“See. You got it exactly.”

Mina stood up walking a little away from the tarp. She kept her back to the other, squatting down into the snow. Nayeon couldn’t see what she was doing. “I haven’t played in the snow in I don’t even know how many years. So this is the perfect opportunity to do this.”

Nayeon couldn’t get a “ _Do what?_ ” out before a snowball hit her square in the chest. The impact put her in a daze, not able to process what just happened. She finally lifted her head to meet Mina’s playful grin. “Oh it’s on.” She scrambled off of the tarp and lunged at Mina, starting a game of tag all over the clearing. She would stop occasionally to form a quick snowball to launch at her, hitting her mark almost every time. An all out war started, the two girls using all of their energy to make the biggest snowballs they could. Nayeon got hit in the face more than once due to Mina’s surprising accuracy.

They continued their chase, running around like kids and chucking snow at each other. Mina upped her game, surprising when she was distracted trying to make more ammunition. Nayeon didn’t notice anything until her back was _so cold._ She almost couldn’t breathe from the chill, screaming because she couldn’t really do anything else. Mina wasn’t helping at all, doubled over in laughter from shoving snow down Nayeon’s back.

She collected herself, almost crying from laughter. “That’s exactly how you sounded when you screamed in my face at Mr Kim’s.”

“Oh my god. Oh my god it’s so cold. I can’t breathe oh my god.” Nayeon was having a hard time pulling herself together. The snow had melted by now, but it made her clothes wet and freezing. She stumbled her way over to the tarp, and after a few minutes, the cold was tolerable. Mina sat with her, trying to warm her own hands up. Nayeon remembered part of the supplies she brought with her. “I have the perfect remedy for both of us.” She pulled the thermos’ out of her bag, handing one to Mina and keeping the other for herself. The younger girl moaned in relief when she saw the contents, drinking almost half of it in one go.

“This is amazing. I really needed this.” Nayeon just chuckled, taking a drink of hers. They screwed the lids back on to save to rest for later. “I wasn’t expecting this. When I asked you on a date I was just thinking like a movie or something. Or a museum. No one’s ever brought me on a date like this.”

Nayeon looked at her, wondering what she meant. “A date like this?”

Mina shrugged her shoulder like it was obvious. “Yeah. No one’s ever tried to make it special. No one’s ever brought me out to play in the snow before. Which I do have to say, this is the best date I’ve ever been on.”

Nayeon’s chest swelled at the girl’s confession, proud that she was the one to make her feel special. “Well I’m glad you think that way.” They stared, almost expressionless at each other, taking in every detail of the others’ face. She didn’t notice in all their shifting around they had ended up closer to each other on the tarp, knees knocking as they faced each other. Nayeon slowly stretched her legs out, pulling gently at Mina’s calve to prompt her to do the same. She scooted forward, the girl’s legs in front of them, sitting on each other’s right side. Mina just let Nayeon guide her, waiting to see what she was going to do next. Nayeon stretched her right hand across Mina, placing it next to the girl’s left thigh. Their faces were level, so close the steam from their breaths were indistinguishable. Using her free hand, Nayeon undid her scarf to get it away from her face, slowly doing the same to Mina’s when she finished. The girl’s nose and cheeks were rosy from the cold and Nayeon was sure she looked the same. They just stayed there for a while, gazing into the other’s eyes. Mina had at some point grabbed onto Nayeon’s jacket, pulling them closer together. Nayeon finally broke the silence that had set upon them. “I’m going to kiss you now. Ok?”

Mina didn’t give her an answer. Fed up with their past missed opportunities, she tugged on Nayeon’s jacket, finally sealing their lips together. Nayeon sighed into the kiss, placing her free hand on the back of Mina’s head. It was chaste, no more than the pressing of their lips together, but they didn’t let go until their lungs burned and their cheeks were red from more than just the cold. They sat like that, with blissful smiles and foreheads pressed together.

Nayeon pulled away slightly to check the time on her phone. It read 8:42, meaning they had been there for almost over 2 hours. Her nose was running slightly, noticing Mina's was as well. “Do you want to pack it up? If we stay out here much longer we'll end up getting sick.”

“Not just yet. There's one more thing I want to do.” That devilish smirk was back on her face. She tucked her legs in, sitting in her knees and leaning toward Nayeon again. Just when Nayeon though she was going to kiss her again, Mina stood up, walking off the tarp a little ways away from the other girl.

“Don't tease me like that.”

Mina just shrugged her shoulders in a “ _what can I say_ ” fashion. “You know I've never made a snow angel?” was the only warning Nayeon got before Mina dramatically fell backwards into the snow. She started moving her arms and legs, laughing to herself and feeling very pleased. Nayeon didn't think she had ever seen anything more beautiful than that moment. She struggled to get up from sitting too long, wondering out loud as she went, “How have you never made a snow angel before?”

“I just didn't. I went to a private school growing up and we weren't allowed to touch the snow when we went outside. And then I was home during the summer so no snow then either. By the time I was done with school, I didn't feel the want to play in the snow anymore.” Nayeon stuck her hand out to help the girl up, wrapping an arm around her waist to marvel at the sight before them.

“Well congratulations on your very first, highly successful snow angel.”

“I'm very proud of it.”

“Oh you should be. It's a work of art.”

They stood there in the serene clearing, before Mina yanked herself away in excitement claiming, “I need to make more snow angels” before finding another clear spot to lay in. As she worked her arms and legs, she shot to the other, “Make angels with me.”

_Oh believe me I’d like to make plenty of angels with you._ She had to tell herself to calm down, before walking over to Mina and laying down a little ways away from her. She enjoyed hearing the younger girl’s giggling rather than actually making the snow angel, because nothing made her feel more complete inside than the other girl’s laugh.

Mina didn’t stop there, going on to make 5 more snow angels before calling it a night. She took plenty of pictures of her first one to show off to her friends later. “I’d call this successful. But it’s freezing out here now let’s go home.” Nayeon just smiled, slinging an arm over her shoulders and guiding the two of them back over to the log.

They folded up the tarp and put it back in Nayeon’s bag, drinking the rest of their hot chocolate when they were finished. They grabbed their bags and headed onto the path again, moving quickly to get out of the cold. Nayeon unlocked her car and they threw their stuff in the backseat, each getting in and shutting their doors. It wasn’t too much warmer inside the car than it was outside, but they didn’t have any snow to deal with anymore. Nayeon started it, letting it sit to warm up. Mina turned to the backseat to grab one of the many blankets, spreading over herself in an attempt to warm up.

“Hey now save that for later.” Nayeon warned her.

“There’s a later?” Mina thought this was the end, that Nayeon was going to drop her off and they’d be done with their date for tonight. It was already after 9:00 and Mina wondered what there was still to do on a Sunday night.

Nayeon checked her texts, smiling when she got the confirmation she needed from Jeongyeon.

_Place is all yours. We’re crashing at Tzuyu’s. She’s not too happy but she’ll get over it. Make sure you two are dressed and that the place has been aired out when we get back._

She sent her the middle finger emoji, and then a quick _Thanks_ before putting her phone down. “If it’s alright with you, yes there is a ‘later’.” She didn’t know how Mina would respond, so she spoke carefully. “I thought we could go back to my place. My roommates aren’t there so it wouldn’t be really awkward and it’ll be pretty calm.”

Mina looked like she was holding in laughter. “It’s only the first date and you’re already taking me home. A little ambitious aren’t you?”

“I didn’t hear a ‘no’ in there.”

“That’s because there wasn’t one.” Mina’s smile grew, mirroring the one on Nayeon’s face. The older girl started the car, pulling around and back onto the road.

It didn’t take them long to reach Nayeon’s building. She pulled into her usual spot, seeing the other spaces empty of her roommate’s cars. The girls got out and grabbed their things from the backseat, piling the blankets in their arms. They walked into the building, Nayeon using her key card to open the doors. Mina made them take the stairs when she found out Nayeon only lived on the second floor, the older girl complaining the whole time. Nayeon unlocked the door to her unit, holding the door for Mina to go first. She took their things and just tossed them into the living room so that they could free their hands to take their stuff off. They set their boots close to an open register to melt the remaining snow off of them. Nayeon helped Mina with her coat, hanging it up in the closet, before taking hers off and hanging it up too. She turned back around only to be greeted with Mina glaring at her, or more importantly glaring at her hoodie. Nayeon just smiled and took her hand, leading her into the apartment.

“It’s not much, but four struggling college students live here so- it’s home.”

“I really like it, actually. It’s nice. But what would be even nicer, is if you give me my hoodie back.”

“Not happening. It’s keeping me warm in this bitter winter.” She faked shivering, making herself look as pathetic as possible. “Also I’m wearing much underneath this and that’s moving a little faster than I’d like.” She shot Mina a wink, smiling at the blushing, flustered girl.

“Whatever. So are you going to finally tell me what all the blankets are for?” She looked at the stacks the girls had brought in. Nayeon just grabbed the blankets from the couch, and then Mina’s hand, leading her down the hallway into her room. She slowly shut the door behind them, not wanting to give Mina the wrong idea.

She set the blankets on the bed, turning to her dresser to fetch a something more comfortable for the other girl. “Do you want a hoodie or something to put on?”

“Oh I’m fine with what I’ve got on, actually. But thanks.” There was something about wearing the other girl’s clothes to bed that got her flustered, especially seeing the older girl having no problem at the prospect of wearing hers. She gazed around the room, looking at Nayeon’s belongings. A hoodie hit her in the face, one that Nayeon threw at her. Pulling it away, she noticed it wasn’t hers, but one of the older girl’s. “Is you trying to get me to wear some of your clothes?”

“Maybe. The bathroom’s right across the hall if you want to change in private.” She handed her a pair of shorts to change into as well.

Mina stood up and walked out, closing the door behind her. Nayeon changed out of her clothes, slipping out of her jeans and sweater, but pulling Mina’s hoodie right back on. She decided to forgo pants, content with the boyshorts she already had on. She lounged on her bed on top of the covers, waiting for Mina to come back in. It didn’t take long for her to come back in, wearing Nayeon’s oversized hoodie and a pair of spandex shorts. She was surprised Mina didn’t comment on them because they fit like a second skin on her.

Mina barely paid any attention to her when she came back in, placing her stack of clothes on a chair. She checked her phone before setting it down, finally looking in Nayeon’s direction. Nayeon had propped herself up on her elbows to watch the other girl, having a hard time keeping her thoughts from wandering when she looked that good in her clothes. Mina’s eyes trailed down, and then up Nayeon’s body, expression shifting into something Nayeon couldn’t quite read. She didn’t have time to react before Mina stalked across the room and flung herself onto her lap. Nayeon’s hands landed on her thighs that bracketed her hips. She let Mina push her down back onto the bed as their lips met again.

They kissed lazily, their only goal to just keep their lips pressed together. Nayeon smirked into it when she felt Mine tense, knowing it was from her thumbs rubbing little circles on the girl’s thighs. She flipped them over suddenly, taking in Mina’s shocked face before sealing their lips together again. Their heads twisted, finding different angles that worked for the two of them. Mina’s hand buried themselves in Nayeon’s hair, pulling her closer. Nayeon trailed away from her mouth, placing open mouthed kissed along her jaw up to her ear, then down her neck. She didn’t move farther, partly from hesitation and for Mina’s sake, but she stopped mainly because of the yawn the younger girl failed to hide. She smiled into Mina’s neck, placing one last kiss there before pulling away and sitting up.

“Wait no-” Mina couldn’t get any argument out before Nayeon had stood up, reaching for the light next to her. Once it was on, she flipped the overhead light off, leaving the room in a gentle glow. She grabbed her blanket on top of the stack, bringing it back over to the bed and laying back down next to Mina.

Spreading the blanket over them, “Don’t worry. This is only our first date after all. We should take things slow.”

Mina curled up into Nayeon’s side, laying her head on her chest and grabbing one of her hands to intertwine with her own. “Mhm says the girl who tried to kiss me, not once, but twice on the third day we’d met up with each other. And then you did kiss me twice, just not where you wanted.”

“Ok but need I remind you of _your_ actions not 10 minutes ago.” Mina started to protest, but Nayeon but her off to continue. “I was just laying on the bed and then you come out of nowhere and just lay it on me, _while laying on me_!”

Mina propped up on her elbow. “What did you expect when you were looking like that. Put some pants on!”

They both erupted in laughter, curling back into one another as they settled down. Mina let out another yawn, causing Nayeon to do the same. A sudden thought crossed Mina’s mind. “Oh shit. I should maybe text my roommates. Let them know I’m staying.” She didn’t move to get up, prompting Nayeon to ask her why. “Aren’t you going to get your phone.”

Mina just grumbled, cuddling further into the older girl. “They’ll live. I’ll just text them tomorrow. I’m too comfortable to move.”

They fell into silence after that. It didn’t take long for Mina to fall asleep once Nayeon started playing with her hair, Nayeon not too far behind her.


	9. Ch 9

Nayeon woke up screaming bloody murder.

It had been a while since she’d shared a bed with someone and grew used to sleeping alone. So when she slowly roused from her sleep because of the dead weight of someone’s arm on her stomach and the warmth of another body firmly pressed against her from behind, she reacts violently. And then falls out of bed.

She landed painfully on her side, knowing a bruise would form as the day went on. She propped herself up, meeting Mina’s amused, worried look. “You ok down there?” They didn’t get a chance to laugh at the ordeal when the door burst open, her roommates rushing in wielding varying household objects, poised to attack.

Jihyo lead the charge, ready to start swinging at anything. “What happened? Who’s being murdered?” She held a pan above her head, the wild look in her eyes making her look more than insane. Momo and Jeongyeon stood behind her, Momo looking like she was dragged into this, and Jeongyeon looking all too enthusiastic to be involved. Mina looked more frazzled than Nayeon felt, receiving two shocks of her life within seconds of each other.

Nayeon sat on the ground still, more annoyed than anything else at the sudden intrusion. “No one’s being murdered. I just fell out of bed.”

Jihyo relaxed a bit at that, taking in the scene before her. Mina laying closer to the wall, the obvious spot where someone else was laying being closer to the edge, how it looked like Mina hadn’t rolled over to check on Nayeon and instead just propped herself up. A smirk slowly grew on her face upon her sudden realization. “Were you the little spoon?”

Nayeon quickly turned red, sputtering her way through an answer. “What? No I was not! What made you think- how dare you assume I would ever be- Do I look like I’m little spoon material? I can tell you right now I am not!” She stood up part way through her answer, crossing her arms when she was finished and nodding in a way that looked like she was trying to convince herself more than convince everyone else. Mina just snorted from behind her.

Jihyo assessed the situation one more time, lips pursed when she couldn’t find anything else to tease the older girl about. But Jeongyeon managed to find something. “Why the fuck aren’t you wearing pants?”

Nayeon glanced down at her legs, picking one up slightly off the ground as if to expect it. “Because I don’t sleep wearing pants? You should know this. Also why are you asking so many questions. Get out!” She started shoving them out of the room, wanting to be left alone so she could cuddle right back up to Mina and go back to sleep. Jihyo yelped in protest, saying she could walk on her own and that she didn’t appreciate being handled so roughly. Momo shot Mina the “I’m-watching-you" motion before leaving. Jeongyeon just hit the rolling pin she held against her hand, trying to look threatening to Mina. Nayeon rolled her eyes at all of them, knowing this was the perfect time for them to do their own little “shovel talk”.

Jihyo stopped before closing the door, smirking at the two girls and throwing Nayeon a wink. She left just in time to avoid Nayeon throwing a shoe at her.

“Are they always like that?” Mina was still reeling from the events that played out.

Nayeon answered her while crawling back in bed. “Unfortunately.” She turned her back to Mina, scooting as close to her as possible to press her back flush against the girl’s front. She grabbed Mina’s arm to place over her stomach, before fixing the blanket over the both of them. They settled back in together, feeling sleep curling at the edges of their eyes.

“Not little spoon material my ass.” Nayeon just kicked her in the shin. Mina placed a calming kiss to the back of her neck, and then they were asleep again.

They awoke later to a phone ringing, Mina stumbling over Nayeon’s body to get out of bed and answer it. She was still slightly disoriented from sleep and her foot caught on Nayeon’s something or other, sending her crashing to the ground. She crawled her way over and answered the phone right before she thought the call would time out. Sana’s voice greeted her after a groggy “Hello?”

The door burst open again as she rolled onto her back and flung and arm over her eyes. Nayeon moved to point a finger sternly at the intruder, silently telling her to leave them alone. She heard Jeongyeon mumbling something about being “tired of them making so much damn noise.”

Mina was barely getting a word in edgewise with Sana’s lecture, the loud, high pitched voice barely discernible through the phone across the room. “I’m fine, really. Well I didn’t call because I’m an adult and can make my own- ok I’m sorry. Yes I understand that you were worried. Look I’m fine ok? I’m talking to you right now. Yes I had a great time. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.” A pause, “No we didn’t sleep together! Oh my god I’m leaving now. I’m sorry again. How many more times do you want me to say it? Ok I’ll see you when I get home. Tell Dahyun I heard that and to fuck off.” She hung up and flung her phone away.

Nayeon adjusted her position to look at the girl on the floor. Neither of them said a word for a while, still trying to adjust to their second abrupt awakening of the morning. Without looking at the older girl, Mina grumbled out, “I think I’m grounded.”

Nayeon let out a mix of a sigh and a chuckle. “As much as I hate to end this, do I need to take you home before your roommate has an aneurysm?”

Mina stretched as she thought, hoodie riding up to reveal ample amount of skin. She flopped her arms back down above her head, doing nothing to adjust her top.

Nayeon’s brain shut down seeing the younger girl’s stomach. _Holy fuck. Oh my god she has abs. Of course she has abs she’s a ballerina. Oh my god she’s half naked on my floor and her abs are right there. God I bet they’d feel so good to hold onto as I ride her st_ \- “Are you listening to me?”

Mina’s sudden question shocked her out of her thoughts. Her face turned bright red realising what she was just picturing in her head. “Uh- I was thinking. About- things.” Her eyes darted around trying to cover for herself. She shook her head to collect herself, finally sitting up. “I’m sorry. What were you saying?”

Mina just sat up and chuckled, unaware that Nayeon was extremely disappointed when her hoodie fell back into place at the movement. “I said it’s probably a good time for me to get going. I’ve got some homework to do still and some things to do around the dorm.”

Nayeon’s face fell as Mina stood up. She walked back over to the bed, slowly straddling the older girl. She wrapped her arms around her neck, simply looking at Nayeon. Her hand came up to lightly play with the hairs at the base of Nayeon’s neck, tugging softly and curling them around her fingers. Nayeon ran her hands from Mina’s thighs to her waist to her lower back and everywhere inbetween before repeating.

She spoke softly so not to disturb the tranquility. “Do you really have to go?”

Mina looked downfallen. “I don’t want to either, but yeah I need to go.” They sat like that for minute, neither wanting to move to end their little moment. Mina started to lean in for a kiss, just making contact before Nayeon recoiled suddenly.

“Jesus! Oh my god you’ve got nasty ass morning breath!” Mina burst into laughter, starting her assault on the older girl. She held on tight, not giving her much room to struggle and kept trying for a kiss. Nayeon somehow got her off of her, and leapt from the bed. She grabbed a shoe from the floor, poised and ready to throw it at her oncoming attacker.

Mina just lay on the bed cackling, trying to catch her breath again. Nayeon stopped to observe the sight, falling more in love with the wide smile on the girl’s face, true and unabashed.

The rest of the morning passed without any more complications. They redressed and freshened up, Mina doing the best she could with none of her belongings. Nayeon offered to make breakfast for them only for Mina to turn her down when she admitted the best she could do was pour a bowl of cereal. Mina actually left the apartment with all of her clothing items that she had originally left, except her hoodie because it was still on Nayeon’s body. She gave directions to her dorm as Nayeon drove slow, not wanting to rush their departure. They were silent as Nayeon pulled into the parking lot, neither wanting to be the first to say goodbye. Nayeon helped Mina get her clothes out of the car, double checking that she had everything.

“I really did have a great time last night. No one has ever put that much effort into something for me. It made me feel special.” She blushed as she admitted that last part.

Nayeon smiled fondly at her. “Well, like I said, I’m glad you felt that way. I’m glad that I was the one to make you feel that way.” She brushed some hair off the girl’s forehead, more so caressing the skin there. “You should always feel special to someone.”

“I’d love to do something again. I’ll even plan it this time,” she teased.

Nayeon smiled softly at the girl, pulling her in for a hug and kissing her on the cheek. Mina pouted, leaning in for the kiss she didn’t get earlier. Nayeon recoiled once more. “You still haven’t brushed your teeth get away from me.” She only pulled her head away, staying in the younger girl’s space. She ushered the girl inside the building, speaking as Mina walked backwards towards the door. “Well I am always free because I do nothing with my life. So whenever you’re free works for me.” Mina laughed one last time, voice carrying over to Nayeon. She waved goodbye and walked inside, letting the door close behind her.

The older waited until the door had shut before turning around. She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling the chill seeping into her. She struggled to open her door, grumbling as she did. “It’s fucking cold as balls out here.”

 

They settled into a routine- show up, tease each other, do their laundry, catch each other up on what had happened since they last saw each other, kiss a little bit, and go their separate ways.

They had gone on one other date since their snow day. Mina had somehow reserved a performance hall in the city, saying the manager was an old dance instructor of hers. She had dimmed the lights, mainly using the ones overhead so they weren’t blinded by the bright stage lights. She had laid a couple of blankets and pillows, preparing some food as well for them to have their own little picnic. They talked for hours, eating the food and drinking sparkling cider. “ _I almost brought wine or champagne to drink, but I have to drive us home later._ ” Nayeon surprised her, asking her to teach her some ballet, saying it only felt right because Mina had performed on that stage multiple times. It ended poorly once Mina found out how stiff and inflexible Nayeon was. She ended up driving them back to her dorm, inviting Nayeon up to stay over. Sana, thank god, stayed in her room all night and left them alone. But the snake couldn’t stay away for long, bursting into Mina’s room the morning after to be nosy and demand details from the two still half asleep girls.

That night shifted their relationship. There was no big announcement or question from either of the girls, both of them just agreeing that their relationship was serious. Nayeon went home and had a gay panic realizing Mina was now her girlfriend. Her roommates screamed with her, jumping all over the place in their excitement for her. Mina went home and very calmly told Sana that she was dating Nayeon. Sana was the one to start screaming. Chaeyoung and Dahyun just congratulated her, while Tzuyu scowled, having to be on both sides of this “dumb relationship.”

The next 3-4 laundry days passed by in a blur for Mina. She couldn’t remember which conversation happened at which one, which playful jab followed which dumb comment from the older. She knew that the second visit was when Nayeon spilled soda all over herself, because that was the day Mina had a customer throw their drink at her for not getting them their food fast enough. She also knew that the fourth visit was when they weren’t alone in the laundromat. No one had ever been there with them since they were there at such a god awful hour. They had gotten lost in each other, distracted by the feeling of the other’s lips when the guy walked in, catching Nayeon with her hand up Mina’s shirt. They sat in silence the rest of the time, not speaking out of mortification.

Sometimes they surprised one another with food and sometimes they’d bring their school work to do. Nayeon brought a couple of movies one time and so they watched them on her laptop while doing their laundry.

While they weren’t going on a lot of dates, they still made time to see each other outside of Mr. Kim’s. They would go over to each other’s place, curling up together and just being with each other. Sometimes they’d catch the other at just the time inbetween classes, exchanging quick words and hugs. It didn’t seem like much to other people, but to them it was everything.

These visits are always the highlight of her week, making even the worst days seem a little brighter if it only meant she got to see Nayeon. But something was different about this next visit. The older girl was always so warm and bright when they meet up again, greeting Mina with a smile and a hug. There was none of that this time.

The laundromat was silent, save for the buzzing of the lights. No machines were running, no music playing, none of Nayeon’s grumbling rants reached her ears. She knew that Nayeon was here because her car was parked right in front of the door. Her footsteps felt too loud, too intruding on the silence. She reached the last row, where they had laid claim on the machines there. Her heart broke as she took in the scene before her.

Nayeon was there, in her usual spot sitting with her back against one of the machines, just staring into the space in front of her. Her basket lay next to her untouched and she hadn’t even worked on sorting anything to load up a washer. Her legs sat extended in front of her, hands lay limp in her lap.

Mina slowly approached the older girl, not wanting to startle her, and set her basket down on the bench. She slowly lowered herself next to her, leaving space so that Nayeon didn’t feel suffocated. Up close, she could see that Nayeon had been crying, tear tracks staining her face. She waited for her to speak first, not wanting to make her more upset. They sat for ages, before Nayeon’s voice broke through the quiet, her words gripping Mina’s heart.

“I came out to my parents.” She didn’t offer anything after that. No follow up to explain what happened or little quip to try and lighten to mood. She was very straightforward and serious, which worried Mina to death.

She reached over, gently placing her hand on Nayeon’s and let the older girl take the initiative to grab hold of it. They remained in silence for a while, Nayeon’s sniffles cutting through occasionally. Mina was trying her best to not just wrap her girlfriend up in her arms and let her cry it out, but she knew that wouldn’t work right now. Tears fell freely down Nayeon’s face, triggering tears in Mina’s eyes as well.

Nayeon let out a shuddering breath and leaned her head back to look up at the lights. “It was earlier tonight, after we got off the phone. You were talking about your next performance coming up and you were so excited about it. I was smiling the whole time because I was so excited for you and just-” More tears fell as her voice caught in her throat. Her jaw trembled from all of the emotions running through her in that moment. She collected herself and continued. “You make me so happy and I wanted to scream it to world. So I called my mom and made her get dad on the phone. And we talked for a bit about school and they always want to know about Jihyo and Jeong and Momo so I talked about them too. And they talked about how they’re doing and about my younger sister and what’s going on in their lives.” Nayeon grabbed Mina’s hand with both of hers at the mention of her sister. “And I was so nervous I was pacing and sweating and just wanted to hang up and forget about telling them. They asked me if I liked any boys at school, and I just thought of you.”

Mina’s tears finally fell at that.

“I stopped them in the middle of whatever they were saying and said, “ _No there aren’t any boys that I like. But I do have something else to tell you,_ ” and they got excited because I had big news for them. I was blunt with them and just said “ _Mom. Dad. I’m gay and I have a girlfriend._ ” They didn’t say much after that, but I heard my dad get up and walk out of the room. My mom-” Nayeon’s voice broke again. She clear her throat and did her best to finish. “My mom very calmly asked me if I was joking, and that I shouldn’t joke about a thing like this. I told her no and she then told me that I was a disgrace to our family, and that I was no longer her daughter. She said that me and my “ _abomination of a girlfriend_ ” deserved to burn in hell. They don’t have the right to talk about you like that. I _love_ you.” She ground out the end, gripping Mina’s hand tighter and wiping some tears away. “She said that my dad was going to pack all of my things and have someone deliver them to my apartment. My sister even ended up calling me asking why my parents were acting like this, and when I told her, she said that I was disgusting and that she hated me. So that’s what I’ve been up to. How are you?” Her sarcastic quip just seemed to make the atmosphere all the more bleak.

She finally turned her head to look at Mina and saw her trying to keep it together. Both of them were wrecks, crying and red faced and trembling with anger at Nayeon’s story. Mina finally cracked, pulling Nayeon in for a tight embrace as they fell apart into each other. They held each other, crying and trying to reassure each other. They cried until their heads hurt and they had run out of tears. Nayeon pulled away first, still staying in the other girl’s space. Mina ran hand through Nayeon’s hair, both to calm her down some more and to adjust it back into place. They both took a moment to breathe, to get themselves back together.

Mina grabbed Nayeon’s chin, making her look at her. “Hey.” She just softly smiled a bit at the girl. “No matter what happens, I will always be here for you. If your parents can’t see that you are still their wonderful, beautiful, stunning little girl then honestly? That’s their loss. I know it hurts. I can’t even imagine the kind of pain you’re in, but I’m going to be here to help you get through this. And you’ve got some pretty amazing friends who will be just as willing to pull you through.” Nayeon smiled a bit toward the end of Mina’s speech. “Have you told any of them yet?”

Nayeon sighed, exasperated. “Yeah. Jihyo came running when she heard me yell after my mom hung up on me. I kind of like, lost it and went on a rampage. My room’s a mess probably.” She turned to look around her, at both of the baskets sitting near them and at the machines. She knew that it was laundry day and that Mina would show up as well. But she really didn’t think she could actually work in the state she was in.

Mina seemed to notice, drawing Nayeon’s attention back to her. “Why don’t we just go back to my place? You’re exhausted, honey you need to go sleep some. We’ll get up tomorrow and clean up your room if it’s still messy and then we can come back some other time and do laundry, ok?” Nayeon nodded at that, eyes growing heavy not realizing how tired she actually was. “And hey, guess what?” She looked back at Mina, brow furrowed in question. Mina just smiled softly, affection swimming in her gaze. “I love you too.”

Nayeon felt all the blood rush to her head, burrowing her head in Mina’s shoulder and whining. Mina just chuckled, rubbing a soothing hand up her back. “I know you said it in the heat of the moment, and you don’t have to say it back right now, but I wanted to. With every bit of my heart, I love you.”

Nayeon picked her head up at that, tears springing in her eyes but this time, for different reasons. She choked on any words that tried to come out, instead leaning in to kiss Mina. It was simple and chaste, but she poured all of her emotions into it. They pulled back for air, coming back together for another, trying to convey how much they truly loved each other. They pulled apart again, breathing the other in.

Mina stood first, pulling Nayeon up after her. They each grabbed their baskets, heading for the doors. “Do you want to drive separately, or do you want to come with me?” Nayeon just followed Mina to her car instead of answering.

They arrived a few minutes later, Mina living much closer to the laundromat than Nayeon does. They got out and grabbed their things, walking into the building. They headed up to Mina’s floor and entered her dorm quietly. Sana surprised them by the kitchen, the light from the fridge illuminating the small space. She spoke quietly, “Hey you’re back really early. Did something happen?”

Mina answered for the both of them. “We’re both just really tired and wanted to sleep instead, so.” She trailed off at the end, hoping Sana would drop the topic. Thankfully she did, for once.

“Just keep it down ok? Chaeyoung and Tzuyu are asleep on the couch.” They both nodded and headed for the hallway. Sana caught Mina before she could go to far, a puzzled look on her face.

“Not right now, ok? We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“We better. You two look rough. Go get some sleep.”

Mina just nodded, catching up to Nayeon in her room. She shut the door behind her, and set her stuff down. She walked over to her dresser and pulled out some pajamas for the two of them. Nayeon sat on her bed, looking a little shell shocked still. Mina just handed her the clothes, turning and giving the older girl some privacy. She changed quickly, into a t-shirt and some leggings, tossing her clothes into her basket. When she turned back around Nayeon was done, in a similar outfit leaving her clothes in pile on the floor.

Mina walked over and turned the light off, draping the room in darkness, before turning her lamp on. The soft glow seemed to relax Nayeon a bit. She sat next to the girl on the bed, legs pressed together and arm around her waist. Nayeon leaned her head on her shoulder and sighed, letting out all of her frustrations in one breath. They remained like that for a bit, before Nayeon moved to lay down. They adjusted themselves, finding the perfect spot to them and then for the blankets on top. Mina laid flat on her back with Nayeon burrowed into her side. Nayeon’s head lay on her shoulder and she had one leg across Mina’s. She ran her fingers through Nayeon’s hair, relishing in the softness of it.

It didn’t take long for Nayeon to fall asleep from the exhaustion of the night’s events. Mina lay awake for hours, though. Her heart hurt too much and her brain wouldn’t stop running wild. She couldn’t believe that Nayeon’s parents were that cruel to her after she had been so brave. She was angry that anyone could have hurt the girl in her arms. Nayeon deserved to be loved, and only loved, and Mina vowed that from that day forward, love was all she would receive from her.


	10. Ch 10

Mina woke up before Nayeon did, utterly exhausted from not sleeping enough. She was just glad the older girl slept soundly, wearing herself out and sleeping off the trauma from earlier that morning.

She slowly detangled herself from her girlfriend, carefully lifting the older’s head from her chest and onto the pillow. She breathed a sigh of relief that Nayeon didn’t wake up from all of the maneuvering. Mina took a second to just stand by the bed and admire the other girl’s sleeping form. Tear tracks were still noticeable and her eyes were puffy from all of the crying she did. She softly ran a hand across Nayeon’s forehead to adjust some stray hairs before turning and walking out of the room.

The dorm was still quiet, most of the residents still slept soundly in the early hours. She shuffled into the living room, stopping and running a hand through her own hair, trying to get a grasp on the morning. She let a fond smile cross her face upon noticing the occupants of the couch.

Tzuyu and Chaeyoung squeezed together on the furniture at opposite ends. Tzuyu’s long legs hung off of it normally, which meant Chaeyoung got a face full of her feet. The younger had also stolen all the blankets, leaving the shorter girl uncovered and curled into herself in her sleep to try and preserve some warmth.

Mina managed to wrestle a spare blanket out of Tzuyu’s grasp and drape it over Chaeyoung, fondly ruffling their hair as she did. She turned and walked towards the kitchen to prepare breakfast for what would end up being 6 people. _This is a two bedroom dorm why do we always have so many people over?_

She got lost in her thoughts as she cooked, her mind constantly going back to the girl laying in her bed. She almost burned a couple of things, thankfully salvaging them before permanent damage was done. She headed for the fridge, almost jumping out of her skin when she saw Dahyun leaning against it. She caught her breath as the younger girl just looked amused.

“What’s for breakfast?” Before Mina had a chance to open her mouth, Sana walked in behind Dahyun and wrapped her arms around her middle, leaning her head on her shoulder.

“Me.”

Mina sneered at them and rolled her eyes. “That’s disgusting. We’re in the kitchen. I’m cooking breakfast for all of you people and this is what I get in return?”

The couple just laughed and separated, helping Mina carry the food to the table. They got enough plates and silverware for everyone and set the table. Dahyun then walked over to the couch to wake up the still sleeping duo. The poor girls each received a pillow to the face. Chaeyoung lay dazed still from the rude awakening, while Tzuyu immediately fired back her own assault on her attacker. Dahyun got knocked to the ground from the onslaught of pillows and slaps Tzuyu landed on her. The two girls grew loud quickly, sending the peaceful morning into chaos.

Mina and Sana just watched amusedly, arms crossed and eyes fond at the scene in front of them. Mina then walked back to her room to wake Nayeon, sure that the noise had woken her. She slowly opened the door, leaning on the frame to gaze at her girlfriend.

Nayeon was laying on her side, opposite the one Mina had left her on. Her eyes were open, staring at nothing. Mina spoke softly to try and keep some peace of the rowdy morning intact.

“We’re all going to eat why don’t you come join us?” Nayeon started to answer, but Mina interjected. “And don’t say that you’re not hungry because I know you are and you’d only be saying that because you don’t want to be around people.”

Nayeon just closed her eyes and sighed, slowly sitting up and swinging her legs down to the floor. She buried her head in her hands, palms digging into her eyes. She sat for a few seconds before sighing again and rubbing her palms against her thighs. She stood and shuffled toward the door, leaning into Mina while the younger wrapped her up in a hug. They stood like that until they heard Sana call for them to come eat.

They pulled apart, looking at each other while they both put on a brave face, Nayeon more so than Mina. When they walked back into the room, the others had already seated themselves. They left one side open for the couple to sit next to each other. Sana and Dahyun sat across from them, with Chaeyoung and Tzuyu on either end.

They could hear the chatter from the doorway and as they walked towards the table. But when they sat down, it was silent. The other four just stared at Nayeon, not knowing what to say.

Nayeon met their stares with looks of her own. She made eye contact with all of them as she got situated, her face neutral.

Mina gave them each a look, trying to tell them to “ _cut it out_ ”. She just got shrugs and looks of “ _what are we supposed to do?_ ” in response. Nayeon was actually the first to speak.

“Who made all of this?” She looked around the table trying to find who cooked them all the food.

Dahyun responded, “Mina unnie actually did. She’s really the only one who lives here that can cook.” She got a few chuckles in response, easing the tension in the air a little.

“Need I remind you that two people live here,” holding up two fingers to help signify her point. “Me and Sana.” She pointed to herself and the older respectively. Shifting her fingers to point at each of the younger three, “You all are just freeloaders. Be grateful I cook for you in the first place.”

Nayeon placed a hand on her arm. “Thank you for making us all breakfast. You didn’t have to do that.”

Mina just chuckled and gestured with her hand. “Well someone has to feed all of them. They’d be lost without me.”

Nayeon leaned over and kissed her on the cheek in gratitude. She seemed to be in a much better mood than earlier this morning. “So then the food is edible? She actually can cook?” The rest of them laughed while Mina just elbowed her playfully.

Sana continues as everyone served their own plates. “Yeah she’s actually a really great cook. But she gets a little specific sometimes. Like she’ll measure the amount of pasta that has to go in. She’ll switch out noodles to get the exact amount. She takes forever sometimes but the food is always great.”

Mina just whined as her roommate went on, not used to being the one getting teased. Nayeon was having trouble eating, laughing around many of the bites she took. They cleared the food fast, but spent over an hour just talking and joking. Nayeon felt relaxed and at peace with all of them. She appreciated Mina and her friends treating her like normal and not tiptoeing around her.

Even Tzuyu was civil and talking with her naturally. She thought maybe something was wrong with the younger, but decided that maybe Tzuyu actually did like her deep down. That is until they were cleaning up and Tzuyu snuck up right behind and threatened her. “If you tell anyone that I was nice to you, I will brutally murder you.” Nayeon just nodded her head and looked to Mina for help, but the younger was having trouble keeping her laughter contained. She just made a mental note to tell Jihyo to keep better control of her girl.

The tranquility broke when Nayeon’s phone rang. She answered it when she saw it was Momo. “Hello?”

 _"Hey, your dad’s here with a bunch of boxes. He said we have to get everything out because he doesn’t want to have to deal with it or, something._ "

She froze, not knowing what to say. She just hung up after a quick “Ok”.

Mina pulled her back into her room before she could fall apart in front of the others. Only a couple tears streamed down her face. She was cool and collected, but she froze up and that scared Mina more than if she’d just lost it. “Do you want to wait a little bit? We can just stay here for a while and rest. Or do you just want to go ahead and go?”

Nayeon nodded numbly, wiping her tears as she spoke. “Yeah, no. Let’s just go. It’s my things I don’t want them to have to do all the work.” She stood and grabbed her clothes from the night before. She turned and started changing, barely giving Mina any time to give her some privacy. Mina grabbed some fresh clothes as well and changed quickly. They finished getting ready in silence. Mina grabbed the older’s basket and led her out of the room.

“I’m going to bring her home now. I’m going to stay too for a while so just call me if you need anything.” Mina spoke to the room, but kept her eyes on Nayeon as she stood by the door just waiting for the younger. Mina finally turned and looked at them, specifically Tzuyu. “Do you want a ride over there?” Tzuyu just gazed at Nayeon, here eyes full of worry. She only nodded in response and grabbed her stuff. “Ok. Well I’ll be back later. And then we’ll talk.” She directed the last part at Sana, receiving a nod.

Mina led the other two out the door, closing it behind her. The elevator ride was tense, silence laying over them. The car ride wasn’t much better. The radio played softly as Mina drove across town to Nayeon’s apartment. Tzuyu got the brunt of it, sitting in the back awkwardly as she looked back and forth between the two. Nayeon just looked out the window the whole time, sitting as far toward the door as the seat would allow her. Mina wanted to feel hurt at the space Nayeon put between them, but she knew that the older wasn’t distancing herself from her but rather her situation.

She pulled the car into the parking lot seeing Nayeon’s roommates standing around a load of boxes. The older girl’s breathe got caught in her throat at the sight. A man stood with them, looking very defensive. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but she could see Jihyo screaming at him. Just as she put the car in park, two things happened.

First, Jihyo decked the man across the face, almost sending him to the ground. She started to scream again, but Jeongyeon intervened and pulled her away. It wasn’t easy with all of Jihyo’s flailing and yelling, but Momo helped keep her at bay.

And second, Nayeon shot out of the car before Mina could even turn it off. She rushed towards the group, but the man had already scampered off into his truck. He didn’t even see her approach and just backed out and peeled out of the lot. She yelled after him, trying to get his attention but he just kept going. “Dad!”

Mina and Tzuyu had been slow to react, finally approaching the group after the whole scene took place. Tzuyu rushed straight for Jihyo, checking on her and to calm her down. “Are you ok? Why did you punch him? You could have broken your hand! Is it broken? What happened? What were you thinking? Does it hurt? Do we need to go to the hospital? You’re such an idiot!” She finished her mini freak out by shoving Jihyo.

“And here I was thinking I was the mom friend.” Jihyo cracked a smile, trying to relieve the younger. Tzuyu exhaled heavily and just pulled the older girl into her arms, hugging her tightly.

Jeongyeon hit Momo’s shoulder, signalling her that they should start moving the boxes up and give the two couples their space. They each grabbed one and headed in the building, bickering once they got to the door over who should put their box down and open it.

Even with all the background noise Mina had her focus on Nayeon, wanting to approach her and wrap her up but knew the older girl needed her space right now. Nayeon just stood in the empty spot her dad’s truck had been in, staring at the entrance to the lot, willing him to pull back in. Mina threw caution to the wind, however, when Nayeon reached blindly behind her. She pulled her into her arms, leaning the older’s head on her chest and rubbing her back up and down. Nayeon just gripped the sides of Mina’s shirt loosely.

They stood there for some time, long enough for most of the boxes to be taken up. Nayeon pulled away first, staying in Mina’s space and keeping her hands where they were. Mina lovingly brushed some hair out of Nayeon’s face and and just looked at her. She waited for the older to make the first move.

Nayeon turned her head to see what everyone else was doing. Jihyo and Tzuyu had disappeared, presumably up in the apartment tending to Jihyo’s hand. Jeongyeon and Momo just walked out of the building again to get the last of the boxes. Nayeon pulled away and they met the two at the pile.

“I’m sorry you guys had to take all of my stuff up. I should have been helping.” Nayeon looked flustered and apologetic.

Jeongyeon just chortled as she and Momo each picked up a box. “Yeah ok. Since when do you ever do any of your own work? This is nothing new princess.” She smiled reassuringly at Nayeon before turning away and walking back into the building. Nayeon tried to smile, coming off more as a grimace than anything, as she bent to pick up the last box.

Momo tutted at her. “No put that down. Your girlfriend can pick it up.” She winked exaggeratingly as Mina just rolled her eyes. She walked away as Mina turned to address something.

“I’ll carry this in but your stuff is still in my car.” Nayeon just walked over and grabbed her basket from the backseat, slingling Tzuyu’s bag around her shoulders as well. In the rush to get out of the car, no one had grabbed any of their things.

They loaded their arms and walked into the building and up the stairs. The door was propped open and they could hear the chaos from down the hallway. They got into the doorway and took off their shoes, walking into the space fully.

The boxes had been placed in the middle of the room out of the walking path. Mina set down the one she was carrying and faced everyone else. Jeongyeon and Momo laid on the floor, tired from carrying load after load of boxes up.

Tzuyu had Jihyo sitting on the couch while she iced her hand. She was still mad at her for punching Nayeon’s dad, but more so was worried about her hurting. “You could have broken your hand. Why did you punch him?”

Nayeon questioned her as well before she could answer. “Yeah. Why did you punch him?” Mina stood a little behind her, placing her hand between her shoulder blades and rubbing her thumb there in comfort.

Jihyo stood up, disregarding Tzuyu tending to her hand and the yelp the younger girl gave. Her eyes teared as she stood in front of the older girl, well aware that all eyes were on her. She raised her good hand, then second guessed herself and put it back down, shaking it a bit. “I’m really sorry I punched your dad. And that you saw it. But he was saying things about you and that wasn’t ok with me so I started yelling at him. When he didn’t stop I just got so angry so I hit him and I’m so sorry.” Her voice broke at the end and tears fell from her eyes.

Nayeon just continued to stare at her, face expressionless. A question was at the forefront of her thoughts, and hesitated only slightly before voicing it. “What was he saying?”

Jeongyeon had sat up at the point. “Nayeon, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Momo had sat up as well, picking at the ends of her sleeves. “They weren’t the most horrible things, but it wasn’t great either”

Nayeon hadn’t broken eye contact with the girl in front of her. She stood resolute. “What. Did he say?” Mina had stilled her hand, leaving it there as an anchor for the older.

Jihyo swallowed. “He, uh- He called you “filthy”, first.” She got so quiet at the end they could barely hear her. “And- well he mainly just insulted you. He didn’t use a lot of names but he just complained the whole time. About how “embarrassed” he was to have you as a daughter. He kept saying that over and over.”

Jeongyeon interrupted. “Actually now that I think about it, he didn’t really have a lot of things to say. He just kept repeating the same stuff. Like I think he said,” she paused to look at Nayeon before continuing, “He said you were “disgusting” about 10 times. He didn’t seem to have much original material.”

“At least from what I saw, he didn’t look like he believed the things he was saying. It sounded like he only had 4 things to say and just used them on a loop. He looked sad too, like he didn’t want this to be happening.” Momo added.

“I didn’t like him saying those things because you’re my best friend and he was wrong. You’re not disgusting or filth and I’m not embarrassed by you. He just made me so mad so I punched him.” Jihyo held up her injured hand and smiled a little. “As much as my hand hurts, I can’t imagine what his face looks like.”

Nayeon laughed at that, her smile almost splitting her face. Everyone else visibly relaxed at that, the tension easing out of the room a little bit.

“Thank you, for doing that. He’s still my dad, but I probably would have decked him too.” She reached her arm back for Mina, pulling her towards herself once the girl grabbed her hand. She leaned into the younger girl, resting her head on her shoulder as Mina wrapped her up in her arms. Mina placed a kiss on her hairline when they had settled together. “This is all still a lot. And it’s going to take a lot to get through this. But I’m glad all of you are here to help me. Even you Tzuyu,” she added after a beat.

Everyone had stood up at that point, standing in front of the couple. Momo broke the comfortable silence that had surrounded them.

“I’m sorry that this is happening. I can’t even imagine what it feels like. And no offense but your family are all assholes. If this is the reaction they have to you falling in love then they don’t deserve you.” Momo had tears in her eyes. She was always the sensitive one of the group, the cry-baby. She wore her emotions outright and never tried to hold them back.

Nayeon separated from Mina, stepping to Momo and wrapping the younger girl up. Momo clung to her as she cried, causing tears to fall from Nayeon’s eyes as well. Jeongyeon wrapped her arms around the two of them, putting on the strong image for all of them. She reached out and grabbed Jihyo by her shirt and dragged her into the group hug. The four of them stood together and just held each other for a short while, letting their emotions run their course.

Mina and Tzuyu just patiently waited for the friends to separate, letting them take their time and console each other. A box of tissues appeared from somewhere and everyone needed to use at least 2.

When their eyes were dry again, they assessed the task at hand.

“This is a lot more stuff than I remember owning.” The pile of boxes looked much larger inside the small apartment than it had outside. Nayeon took charge of what to do about it. “Well I guess just open them and see what there is. Dictate what stays and what needs to go in the basement?”

Jeongyeon just huffed. “Great. More work we have to do for you.” Nayeon and Jihyo just shoved her, Jihyo telling her to “ _be nice_ ”.

Jeongyeon and Momo immediately moved toward the boxes, each lifting one to an open area and opening it to observe the contents. Jihyo went to do the same, but Tzuyu started freaking out again.

“Wait! Your hand! You need to be icing it and nothing else.” She jabbed her finger in front of Jihyo’s face to emphasize her point. Jihyo went cross eyed trying to focus on the digit before turning to look at the others, her face an expression of disbelief at her situation.

Nayeon leaned back into Mina, watching the scene before her, taking in Jeongyeon and Momo rifle through her belongings without a care in the world, and Tzuyu berate Jihyo for getting physical and hurting herself. Mina wrapped her arms around her waist, making the older lean her head on her shoulder. Nayeon released a heavy sigh, the tension in her shoulders lessening slowly.

Mina ran her thumb on Nayeon’s waist as she spoke softly. “You see?” Nayeon looked up at her quizzically. “I told you you had some pretty great friends.” She placed a loving kiss on Nayeon’s forehead before pulling away, leading the two over to their own box.

Jihyo stayed rooted to the couch, every move of hers held under Tzuyu’s watchful eyes. She was under strict instruction to sit and ice her hand.

They worked efficiently, finding which boxes held what things and where they would go. One pile was for Nayeon to sort out at a later time and place around the dorm, mainly in her room. The other pile was to go in the basement, things that she didn’t need, but wanted to keep because of sentimental value or they just didn’t have room for them right now.

Mina happened upon the box with all the pictures containing Nayeon. The six of them were stunned that her parents threw out every picture of their eldest daughter. Nayeon felt numb, feeling like her parents just tossed her aside like trash. Mina managed to lighten the mood when she found all of her baby pictures. They spent a while sitting in a circle and passing them around, listening to the stories Nayeon would tell about them. Tzuyu asked to keep the one where Nayeon was surrounded by goats on a farm somewhere, crying and snot faced because she was so scared of the animals.

Much of the contents of the load were sentimental things, items from when she was younger and really doesn’t have a use for anymore. She had taken all of her clothes with her when she initially left for college, leaving the rest of her items that wouldn’t fit in her dorm at home. One of the boxes contained all of the books that were in her room, another held all of the items that were on her desk at home. She rummaged through notebooks, pens and pencils, and little keepsakes from her childhood.

The group managed to sort through all of the boxes and designate what was going where. They ended with 3 piles- one of the items that Nayeon would keep in her room or around the dorm, one to go in the basement, and the other to toss out. They got the task done in under 3 hours, lounging around the living room when they finished.

“I’m starving,” Momo whined.

“When are you never not?” Momo just glared at Jeongyeon.

“Just order some food. Or cook something.” The apartment residents all laughed at Tzuyu.

“Yeah like Momo could cook anything.” Jeongyeon received a pillow to the chest.

Nayeon had receded into herself again, snuggling into Mina’s side as the younger girl drew patterns along her back. She just observed what was happening in front of her without really taking any of it in. She was still in a state of shock, disbelief that this was happening. She hoped it was all just a bad dream, that she was going to wake up and everything was going to be ok again, but she knew that wasn’t going to happen. She was roused from her reverie when Mina shook her a little to get her attention. Everyone was looking at her as if they were expecting an answer from her.

“Are you ok?” Jeongyeon wondered. Momo and Jihyo both jabbed her in the side. “What am I talking about? Of course you’re not ok.”

Jihyo took over for her. Speaking slowly, “We were just wondering what your opinion on dinner tonight was. What do you feel like having?”

Nayeon hadn’t given food much thought, unable to think about anything other than the startling events within the last 24 hours. “Um- it doesn’t really matter to me. You guys pick something.”

They decided on some cheap take out because it was easy to feed 6 people without spending a fortune. Nayeon and Mina had moved to the older girl’s room to start unpacking some things while they waited for their food. They worked efficiently with little talking- mainly Nayeon just telling Mina where she wanted some things to go. They managed to empty one box before their food arrived.

Nayeon went to leave to join the rest of the girl to eat but Mina shot a hand out and caught her before she could leave. Nayeon felt herself be pulled into her girlfriend, arms winding around her waist and holding her tight. She didn’t react right away in confusion, but melted into the younger when she realized what was happening. She wrapped her arms around the girl’s shoulders and rested her chin on her shoulder.

Nayeon didn’t realize all the tension she held in her body until she let it all go in that moment. More tears fell and she started shaking in Mina’s arms. Mina managed to guide them to Nayeon’s bed before the older’s legs gave out. Nayeon’s sobs wracked her body as she released all the emotions she’d pent up until right then. Mina just rocked them slightly as she tried to calm the older, shushing her lightly and whispering soothing words to her.

“I know honey just let it out. Don’t hold it in.” It took awhile for Nayeon to get her composure. They sat on the bed for a while longer in silence, letting the heavy atmosphere just sit on their shoulders. Nayeon took one last shaky breath before standing up, nodding at Mina to let her know that she was ok. Mina went to stand up along with her when her phone rang. She waved Nayeon to go on and told her she’d be there in a minute. She checked who it was and answered it when she noticed it was Sana.

“Hello?”

“ _Hey, you’ve been gone a long time. Is everything ok?_ ”

Mina exhaled heavily rubbed her brow, trying to fight off the slight headache forming. “No not really.” She quickly went on before Sana could worry that something was seriously wrong. “Just a lot stuff is happening. Everyone’s fine. A few bruised knuckles but that’s it really.”

“ _You punched someone!_ ” Mina had to pull her phone away from her ear with how loud Sana was.

“No I didn’t punch him. One of Nayeon’s friends did.”

“ _Why was anybody punching people? What did you do?_ ”

“Why do you assume I did anything? Last time I checked I’m your most well behaved friend.”

Sana just chuckled at that. “ _Yeah but you get dark and broody sometimes and I have no idea what you could be planning._ ” Mina just rolled her eyes. “ _When are you going to come home?_ ”

Mina pulled the phone away to check the time, realizing that almost 5 hours had passed since she left that morning. “Our food just got here so I’m going to eat. Maybe help Nayeon unpack a little bit more and then I’ll be home.”

“ _Unpack? Did she go somewhere?_ ”

Mina heard someone call her name from the living room. “I’ll explain later. I told you we were going to talk and we will, I promise.”

“ _Ok. Be safe._ ”

“I will. I’ll see you when I get home.”

Sana hummed as she ended the call. Mina sighed one more time before standing up. She walked out to see everyone else seated around the table eating.

“Momo save some for the rest of us!”

“I moved half that stack of boxes upstairs on my own so I deserve half of the food!” Momo clutched the bag of food to her chest, a couple of the other girls having empty spaces in front of them where the food should be.

“Ok if we’re going by that logic, I should get the other half and we’d be the only two eating.” Jeongyeon said around a bite of food. Tzuyu looked enviously at her while licking her lips, obviously hungry and needing food.

Mina sat in her spot next to Nayeon, looking on as Jihyo finally got Momo to set the food down and share, claiming they ordered enough to feed ten people. Momo finally relented when Jihyo left 4 food containers in front of her and passed out some to the other girls, even leaving some in the bag for when anybody needed more. They cleared out the take out in less than 20 minutes, sitting in a daze from the food sitting heavy in their stomachs.

Nayeon laid her head on Mina’s shoulder as she rubbed her stomach, complaining. “I think I ate too much.” she whined. Mina just patted her knee in sympathy, feeling the effects of filling her stomach to its max hitting her hard.

The others didn’t seem to be doing much better. Jeongyeon and Momo were laying on the floor rubbing their stomachs. Jihyo laughed at Tzuyu who looked like she was asleep sitting upright.

“Tzuyu do you want to just go to bed?” The younger just nodded at her, still sleepy. Jihyo just stood and helped the younger up, guiding her to her room so they could settle in for a nap. She turned at waved at the rest of them before closing her door.

“Use protection! Keep it down in there!” Jeongyeon spoke at the closed door, too late for the two to hear her.

Nayeon sat up and nudged Mina’s side to get her attention, speaking once the girl turned to her. “One more box? Just to get it done and out of the way?” Mina nodded and stood, helping her girlfriend up once she did. They walked into the room and opened the remaining box in there. It was full of all her books and other random items she decided to keep in the dorm. They emptied the box fairly quickly, placing a few items aside for Nayeon to dictate where they went in the living room.

Mina stood there with her hands on her hips when they finished, seeing all the new things in Nayeon’s room. It was obvious that there was a large assortment of items, but the room didn’t look or feel cluttered. She noticed that Nayeon had gone silent, not hearing her moving around or placing an object somewhere. She turned and saw the older girl flipping through a book in her hands. She walked up behind her and wrapped her arms around her waist, peering over her shoulder. Nayeon leaned back into her and moved the book so they both of them could easily look at it. Mina noticed it was a children’s book, full of large words and bright artwork.

Nayeon broke the silence. “My dad used to read this book to me every night before bed. He had voices for each of the characters and it was always the best part of my day.” She finished flipping through it and closed, running her hand over the cover.

Mina was wary to ask the question on her mind, but decided it should be ok since Nayeon brought it up. “Were you closer to your dad?”

Nayeon shrugged a shoulder. “I guess. It’s not like I didn’t get along with my mom. Me and him were just always together. Reading, playing, even just sitting watching TV.” She turned to look at Mina. “I guess I was just a daddy’s girl.”

Mina placed a kiss on the corner of Nayeon’s lips and pulled away. Nayeon set the book on the shelf with the rest of them and wiped her brow. She sighed a bit and rolled her neck to release some tension, her eyes screwed shut. Nayeon rubbed her neck as she yawned.

Mina checked the time on her phone, seeing it was past 7:00, still too early to go to sleep. But she needed to get back so she and Sana could talk and not be up for hours on end.

“You can go home if you want to. You’ve been helping me since we woke up this morning I think you deserve to leave early.” Nayeon said as she carried the empty box out into the hallway.

Mina didn’t want to leave, and she knew that Nayeon wasn’t kicking her out, but the older girl had a point. She trudged out of the room after her, watching as the other girl broke the box down and placed it on top of the pile they had. She noticed Jeongyeon and Momo asleep in the living room, the effects of all the moving and eating getting to them.

Nayeon walked back over to Mina, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and burying her head in her neck. She leaned her weight into it, causing them to stumble back a bit. Mina chuckled as she wrapped her arms around Nayeon to steady them.

“You’re awfully clingy today.”

“I’m emotionally distraught.” Mina barely made out the mumbles against her neck. She just chuckled again and rubbed Nayeon’s back.

Nayeon pulled away and trailed her hands down Mina’s arms, grabbing her hands. “Go home. Please. You’re exhausted and Sana still needs to interrogate you.”

“Are you going to be ok? A lot has happened in the past 24 hours. Too much for one person to handle.”

Nayeon just smiled softly. “I’ll be fine. There are 4 other people here who are willing to help me. Well, 3 because Tzuyu’s one of them.” She pulled Mina back into her, hugging her one last time before she left. “If I have to I’ll just get Jeongyeon to spoon me if I need someone to hold me.”

“Like hell I will.” The aforementioned girl sleepily responded from her place on the couch.

The couple just laughed at her, as they turned to walk towards the door. Mina slipped on her jacket and shoes before righting herself and pulling Nayeon in for a quick kiss. Nayeon chased her as she pulled away, holding on to her jacket lapels to deepen it slightly. Mina stayed in her space when they pulled away, mumbling an “I love you” against her lips.

“I love you too.” She pulled away and turned Mina around by her shoulders. “Now go. Get out,” she said as she hit the younger’s butt.

Mina laughed as she stepped into the hallway, turning to watch Nayeon shut the door behind her. She sighed for the umpteenth time that day, turning the walk down the hallway and down the stairs. She barely remembered getting in her car and driving home, only noticing that she had gotten there. She shook her head to try and clear her daze, resting her forehead on the steering wheel as she yawned. The day’s events were getting to her. She got out of her car and into the building, up the stairs and in her dorm. She barely had a moment to breathe when Sana and Dahyun were pouncing on her in the doorway.

“Ok we are going to talk and we’re doing it right now. I have been waiting all day for this.” Sana sat Mina between her and Dahyun, the two of them looking expectantly at the girl sandwiched between them.

“Hi Mina. How’s your day been? Have you eaten yet? Let me give you a moment to take your jacket and shoes off. Do you want some water? Do you want to rest a bit before we talk? Oh hi Sana. Hi Dahyun. My day’s been fine thanks for asking. I did eat actually. Yeah let me put my things away first that sounds great. I would like some water actually. And yes I do want to catch my breath a little.” Mina glared at her older friend when she was done. Sana just waved her off, mouthing “whatever”.

Dahyun reached her hand up feeling underneath Mina’s chin. Mina just swatted her hand away. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Nope it’s really you. For a second there with all that sass I thought you were Tzuyu in a mask.”

Mina just stared at Dahyun incredulously. She sighed and closed her eyes. “Ok. I have had a very long day and would like to relax a little bit. Give me a bit to put my stuff away and take a shower and I will be right back.” She didn’t wait for an answer before standing up and walking away. She took her shoes off and tossed them in the general direction of the door. She rushed to take her jacket off as she walked to her room, tossing it on her bed once inside. She didn’t sit or linger in her room, wanting to shower quickly to get back to the other two. The quicker she did things, the quicker she would be able to go to bed. She grabbed a fresh pair of pajamas and a towel, heading to the bathroom to clean up. It took her less than 10 minutes to shower, and she rushed to get dressed. She tossed her pile of dirty clothes into her room and grabbed her phone, heading back out the living to talk to her roommate. And her roommate’s girlfriend.

The couple hadn’t moved from where she left them, but they had closed the space between them. They just watched as Mina walked into the room and sat on the floor in front of the couch.

“Alright so where do you want me to start?” Mina addressed to Sana more than Dahyun.

“Before that, do you want Dahyun to leave? Because really neither of us need to know in detail what’s been happening. It’s up to you what you’re most comfortable sharing about Nayeon.” Mina sometimes hated when Sana said things like this. She was older than her, but only by 4 months, and most of the time she never acted like it.

“I won’t go into detail. I’ll just cover the main points so you can both hear this.”

Sana nodded and settled back against the couch, pulling her legs up under her and Dahyun into her side. “Alright then we’re here to listen.”

Mina cleared her throat. She sped through the summary of the day's events as quickly as possible. She didn't look at either of them the entire time, knowing she would get emotional seeing their reactions. When she finished, she finally looked at her friends.

They were silent for a bit before Dahyun spoke up. “How could they just do that? She’s not hurting anyone just because she’s gay. How are they so heartless?” She had tears streaming down her face when she quieted. Sana wrapped her up and tried to calm her down.

Mina felt her own tears fall at the younger’s questions, having asked herself the same thing a dozen times already. “I don’t know. But she’s not alone. She’s got me and some pretty great friends back there with her.”

“Thank you for telling us. You didn’t have to but we really appreciate it.” Sana said sincerely. Mina just nodded in affirmation. They let the silence settle on their shoulders, taking in what was just said. Dahyun interrupted by blowing her nose loudly. The other two just laughed at her.

“Stop laughing at me, I’m empathizing!” She threw a couple tissues at each of them, which they used to wipe their own faces.

Mina sat back and yawned, closing her eyes and letting her exhaustion hit her.

“How are you dealing with all of this?” She cracked an eye at Sana’s question. “I mean I know that she’s obviously hurting, but what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking her parents never deserved her and that she’s too good of a person to be going through this. Don’t get me wrong she’s a human disaster, but no one deserves this. I just want to be there for her.”

“As if you aren’t. I think today proved how “there for her” you really are. Coming back here so you can get some sleep isn’t a bad thing. Neither of you need 24/7 hovering right now. A little separation may help more than you think it is.” Sana was still consoling Dahyun, who was sniffling at this point.

Mina groaned. “Why are you so good at this all of a sudden?”

Sana just smiled at her. “I figured it was time I act my age for once.” They all laughed at that.

The conversation ended there with the couple bidding Mina goodnight as she retreated to her room. She checked her phone one last time after turning the lights off and getting into bed, seeing a text from Nayeon.

“ _Goodnight~ Thanks for all your help today. It meant a lot to me that you were there._ ”

Mina sent back an “ _Of course. There was nowhere else I would have been._ ” and an “ _I love you_ ”, receiving the affection back. She set her phone next to her before rolling over and closing her eyes, falling asleep within seconds. She dreamt of Nayeon and herself and peace and of love, the only things she wished to have right now.


	11. Ch 11

Months passed by them in the blink of an eye. Nayeon still felt the emptiness of her family disowning her, but she wasn’t going at it alone. Mina was there every step of the way, holding her on nights where she wept instead of slept. The younger girl had become her rock, being there when she needed her. Mina did everything she could to help her girlfriend, distracting her from thinking about her family, but also being a listening ear when Nayeon did want to talk about them. Mina had gotten the two friend groups together, along with Tzuyu, in order to help support Nayeon more and to help her branch out.

The two groups grew closer together, often getting together as 9 to have movie nights or go out to karaoke. Tzuyu was the moderator at first, knowing everyone else already and doing her best to keep the atmosphere from being so awkward. It didn’t go so well, but after the first couple times they all met up, they were fast friends.

They had passed finals week, a stressful time of all nighters and study nights. Nayeon had the loom of graduation over her head and was more stressed out than any of her other friends. Mina did her best to help her, making flashcards and constantly quizzing the older girl at any given moment. Sometimes Nayeon just preferred to lock herself in her room and review on her own, but she was always willing to have one of her friends help her. Mina and Jihyo ended up studying together for their science course, having the same professor and class, just at different times. No one had heard Mina yell as loud as she did when she found out they had the same class, absolutely elated she had someone to review with. Jeongyeon, Momo, and Sana stressed on their own too, Jeongyeon worried about her medical exams and Momo and Sana on their performance finals. The three girls majoring in dance found themselves in the studio with each other once a week, providing tips on how they could improve, and choreographing their own dances to relieve stress. Dahyun wasn’t as stressed as the other college age girls, only taking the required general classes that all students needed. She didn’t have to worry about major specific classes like the others did. They all passed with flying colors. The hard work they put in lifted off their shoulders when they got their results.

Nayeon’s graduation was a spectacle. Each student was allowed 8 tickets for their friends and family to attend, and all 8 of the girls were there to support her. They made signs and screamed her name as loud as they could when she was called. They got glares from other people around them, but they didn’t care.

Finding Nayeon afterward took way too long and involved too much miscommunication. “ _There’s too many fountains! Which one did she say she was by?_ ” They managed to find her though, talking with some old classmates, unsuspecting to the stampede running towards her. Jeongyeon and Momo almost tackled her to the ground as they hugged her. Jihyo popped a tiny confetti bomb on Nayeon’s cap. The rest of them just cheered and clapped for their oldest friend. Nayeon was smiling widely, front teeth prominent and her eyes free. Her cap was crooked from the onslaught she just endured. Everyone took their turn congratulating her and hugging her. Tzuyu surprised everyone when she initiated a hug with Nayeon, but then glared at everyone else to shut them up. Nayeon turned to face Mina when she was done, opening her arms for the younger. She leapt into them, squeezing her girlfriend and whispering how proud of her she was in her ear.

They spent the day celebrating Nayeon and her accomplishments, displaying her diploma proudly on the counter. They didn’t have a party for her right away. Instead they waited for their two youngest to graduate high school in order to throw them all a joint party.

Tzuyu and Chaeyoung didn’t really feel the same pressures as the others with all their tests, but felt the pressure about acceptance into college. They each got accepted into their first choice though, crying on the phone together when they found out. Not all of the girls could attend their graduation, so they sat around Mina and Sana’s dorm on facetime with Chaeyoung’s parents so they could watch the pair graduate. Her mom held the phone for all the girls to see and her dad held his phone so Tzuyu’s parents could watch from back home, unable to travel to see their daughter. Chaeyoung’s mom made sure to have the volume off because the girls screamed just as loud for the pair as they did at Nayeon’s graduation.

Chaeyoung’s parents took her out to celebrate that day with her brother, the family unit congratulating their oldest child on her accomplishments. Chaeyoung asked them if Tzuyu could go with them since she didn’t have family with her. Tzuyu ended up crying when Chaeyoung’s mom hugged her and said “ _of course._ ”

Setting up the party the following day was messy. The trio weren’t allowed in the dorm yet as the rest of them wanted to surprise them. Mina and Dahyun were in charge of all the food, setting it up and placing it out for everyone. They had ordered too much food even by Momo’s standards. The decorations were bought and ready to hang, but no one could decide where to put them.

“We should put the big banner on the wall above the couch. And then the streamers along the ceiling.” Momo had the corner of the banner ready to pin on the wall when Jeongyeon snatched it from her hands.

“No. Let’s put the banner above the TV and the streamers above the table.” She moved to grab the streamers to see Sana already holding them.

“No. Streamers are going above the window and the door frames and the banner is going in the entryway so it’s the first thing they see when they get here.”

The three of them started arguing over where to place what, tossing the items to the side as they stood and yelled. Jihyo just calmly walked over and grabbed them, hanging the banner on the wall above the couch and the streamers in various places. She cleared her throat when she was done to get their attention. They stopped and turned, seeing the decoration in place. They paled a little at the glare Jihyo was giving them. She just shook her head and walked away to help the other two.

“Hah! I told you we should have put it above the couch.” Momo looked smug for all of 1 second before Jihyo shot her down.

“I didn’t put it there for you I put it there because everyone can see it the best from there. Also we have a fuck ton of streamers they could have gone in every place you all wanted them.” Momo just pouted while the other two rolled their eyes, still disgruntled with each other.

“When are they going to be here?” Dahyun called from the kitchen.

“They’re actually a little late. They all should be coming together.” Mina answered as she sat the last cake down on the table. Each of the graduates had their own cake, displaying their names and graduation dates. A miniature version of each girl stood on top of their cakes holding a diploma.

The door opened as Mina pulled away, satisfied with the way the assortment of food and desserts looked. The younger two appeared first, with a loud crash behind them.

“Stupid fucking shoes! Why are there so many damn pairs of shoes right by the door?” The eldest of the bunch stumbled down the hallway, batting at the streamers and mumbling, “stupid fucking streamers.” She was a little disheveled from her encounter at the entrance.

Once all three of them were in the room, the rest erupted. “SURPRISE!!!”

“It’s not a surprise though we knew this was happening.” Chaeyoung said as Jeongyeon fixed a party hat on her head. The older girl just shushed her. Tzuyu bent down a bit as Jihyo did the same, blushing as the shorter girl placed a kiss on her cheek.

Mina walked up to Nayeon to place one on her head as well, smoothing out her hair and clothes as she did. “Having a rough day?”

Nayeon just shook her head and smiled. “Not anymore.” Her smile grew wider as Mina scoffed, shoving her away slightly.

She walked back over to the rest of them, the six of them standing in front of the graduates. Sana spoke up first. “So we’ve all decided to each say something about the three of you and to congratulate you and all of your hard work.” She helped pass out glasses of champagne to everyone in order to toast them properly. The younger two looking less than pleased.

“You really don’t have to do this-” Chaeyoung was silenced by Nayeon’s hand over her mouth.

“Yes they do I need validation wherever I can get it.”

The group laughed at the eldest, shaking their heads at her. Sana continued, “Alright, well Dahyun wanted to go first.”

The girl stepped forward and raised her glass a little. “Chaeyoung. My dude. My partner in crime. My sidekick.” She looked off in the distance, face dead serious. Chaeyoung scoffed out “ _this bitch_ ” as Dahyun continued. “When I picked you out of the crowd in school, I knew you and I were going to do great things. Our mixtape was fire.” She wrapped her arm around the shorter girl’s neck, almost in a choke hold. “We’re two cute, adorable, extremely talented individuals and quite frankly, if I were anyone else, I’d cry because I’d want to be me so badly. Congrats on graduating I never doubted you for a second.” She let go of Chaeyoung and patted her on the shoulder, moving to Tzuyu. The taller girl backed away from the approaching girl. “Tzuyu. My young pupil. My prodigy.” Tzuyu just looked at the rest with a “WTF” expression. “I raised you from birth. I fed and clothed you. I supported you from the ground up. I’m so proud of you for graduating. You worked your butt off for this.” She gathered the two girls in front of her and spoke to them both. “College sucks. Don’t go, it’ll kill you. Look what it’s doing to the rest of us. Just run and hide and never further your education.” The two girls looked stunned as she stepped away from them. She moved back to stand with the other 5, pointing at Nayeon and then giving her a thumbs up.

The older girl looked at her incredulously. “Wait, is that it?” The rest of the group were in stitches at Dahyun’s speech. Sana collected herself first, moving to Chaeyoung first. “Congrats on graduating kiddo. All those late nights you kept Dahyun away from me must have really been worth it. I’m proud of you and good luck when you get to college.” She hugged the smaller girl as she laughed at the older’s words. She let go and moved to Tzuyu, who again moved back as she was approached. “Relax you giant. I’m not going to try and hug you.”

“That’d be a first,” the younger replied as she eyed the older girl.

Sana just softly smiled at her as she continued. “I’m proud of you too. I know what it’s like to go to school in a foreign country with a foreign language. It’s not easy but you did it and we’re all very proud of you. Some of us more than others.” She tweaked an eyebrow at that, noticing the way both Tzuyu and Jihyo’s faces flushed. She turned to the older who looked expectant. “Congrats Nayeon unnie on your graduation. You went through a lot these past few months but you worked through it. Here’s to wherever your future takes you.” Everyone raised their glasses at the end of Sana’s speech.

“Well said,” Jeongyeon teased her as she walked back to her spot.

“Oh shut up I’m not an idiot all the time. I can say smart things.” Dahyun placed a kiss on her cheek in reassurance.

“Ok I want to go next.” Momo shuffled to stand in front of the three. “Ok I’ll say Nayeon’s first. You’re my best friend in the whole world.” She turned to look at Jihyo and Jeongyeon. “Well, all three of you are, but you get what I mean.” She turned back to Nayeon. “You had your world flipped on its head but you still didn’t fall down. You are one of the strongest people I know, and I’m so proud of you not only for graduating, but in general. You deserve nothing but love and support and you’ve got all of us to give you that. Congratulations on graduating.” Both girls had tears in their eyes when she finished. Momo hugged her tight, as Nayeon whined about how she didn’t want to ruin her makeup by crying. They pulled apart and Momo addressed the other two. “Not only did you two just graduate high school, but you both graduated near the top of your class, which is pretty amazing. You two are going to do well in college, don’t listen to Dahyun. I’m proud of the both of you, really I am.” Chaeyoung hugged the older girl, while Tzuyu just smiled at her.

Jeongyeon stayed in her spot as she spoke. “I’m just going to keep mine short and sweet. Congrats on graduating. You all worked your butts off for this and you deserve this celebration. Rest for a little bit before things get crazy again.” They all raised their glasses to that.

Jihyo and Mina looked at each other. Mina spoke first. “I want to go last if that’s alright with you.” Jihyo just nodded and stepped forward. “I’ll start with Chaeyoung. You’re a new-ish addition in my life, but a great one at that. I feel like I’ve known you forever and I really am glad you’re a part of our little rag tag group. Congrats on graduating and I hope college is good to you. Here’s to what you choose to do in life, and may you find what you love. Also who you love, but it looks like you got that part covered.” She winked at the girl over the brim of her glass, chuckling at the girl’s blush. Right before graduation, Jinsook, Chaeyoung’s best friend since preschool, had asked her on a date. They had been together a lot more often since, not quite dating, but not just friends either.

Jihyo moved on to Nayeon. “I feel like a broken record, but like everyone else, I’m so proud of you. You had so many things going in your life, and yet you still pulled through and made it all the way through this, with some amazing help if I do say so myself. You deserve all the love in the world and I’m glad Mina’s here to give it to you.” She pulled the older girl into a hug before she could see the tears fall from her eyes.

She locked eyes with Mina over Jihyo’s shoulder, thinking about how lucky she is to be in love with her, and to love and be loved by so many people. She whispered in Jihyo’s ear, “Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you either. Don’t forget that.”

Jihyo pulled apart and stood in front of Tzuyu. The younger girl flushed a little bit at having all of the older girl’s attention. “Like Sana said, attending school in a foreign country isn’t easy. I don’t have experience like the two of you, but you should be so proud of yourself. I know I am.” Tzuyu went completely red at that, looking down at her shoes while everyone else “oohed” at her. “Congratulations on graduating. Let’s hope college is just as successful for you.” The rest of them raised their glasses as Jihyo pulled the taller girl into a tight hug. Tzuyu buried her head in Jihyo’s shoulder, her neck straining at the reach. Jihyo pulled away and placed a lingering kiss on Tzuyu’s cheek before heading back to her spot. Tzuyu grew redder, if at all possible, and everyone laughed at how adorable she was.

“And now that everyone else has gone and said all the things I was thinking of, I have nothing original to say.” They all chuckled at Mina. “So, to our youngest members. You both did an amazing job in school. It couldn’t have been easy, but you pulled through. All those late nights spent in my living room really helped you freeloaders out, didn’t they?” She quirked an eyebrow at them while they just rolled their eyes. She continued as she pulled them both in for a hug. “The things I do for you people.” The younger girls both reciprocated the embrace.

“What the hell Tzuyu? Why do Jihyo and Mina get hugs but the rest of us don’t?” Sana directed at the youngest.

“Because I actually like them.”

“I bet you do like them.” Tzuyu glared back at Sana as Mina pulled away, not liking the emphasis she used. She revelled in the way the older girl shrunk into herself.

Mina stepped in front of Nayeon and grabbed both of her hands, thumbs rubbing over the backs of them. “When I first met you, you screamed in my face literally the second you saw me.”

Jeongyeon piped up from behind Mina, “She screamed like a little bitch baby.” Jihyo just jabbed her in the ribs.

Mina tried to hold in her laughter, remembering exactly what happened that first early morning. “From that moment on, spending time with you was nothing short of interesting. You are the most wonderful person I have ever met, and I mean that with all of my heart. You deserve all the love in the world, and I want nothing more than to be one of the people who give it to you. Life has been rough for you lately, but you never let it get to you. You pulled through with more strength than I have ever seen in a person, and that is one of the many things I love about you. Congratulations on graduating. You deserve this.”

Nayeon was crying by the time Mina finished, sniffling as she tried to keep herself together. She took one hand away to wipe the tears off her face. Momo handed her a tissue to use.

“Jesus all of you just want to make me cry, don’t you?” They all laughed at the older girl as she fanned herself, exhaling hard to keep her tears at bay. When she got herself under control, she pulled Mina in for a quick kiss, mumbling an “I love you too” against her lips.

“Ok lesbians keep it appropriate.” Nayeon just threw her used tissue at Jeongyeon.

“So can we eat now?” Momo pointed over her shoulder at the food.

“Yes, but we haven’t properly toasted our graduates yet.” Everyone stood in a circle and raised their glasses. “Simply put, to you.” Jihyo directed plainly towards the three. They all clinked their glasses together and took a sip of champagne. “Ok now go eat.”

Momo almost tripped over herself in her rush to get to the food. Jeongyeon trailed after her to make sure she didn’t take half of it for herself. There was barely any room around the tables for all the girls, the food, and their plates, but somehow they made it work. The mood was light and hearty, laughter filling to room and a positive energy sitting on all of their shoulders. Their conversations lasted for hours, talking about everything and anything that came out of their mouths. A few messes were made when trying to grab portions, but they were quickly wiped away or picked right back up. All of the food ended up being eaten, much to their surprise. Momo laid on the floor whining because her stomach hurt, but no one felt sorry for her.

Eating the cakes was more of a disaster than dinner was. Jihyo wanted to get a good picture of each of the girls with their cakes, but it didn’t go as planned. Just when she went to take the pictures, Jeongyeon and Momo decided to smash Nayeon’s cake into her face. This erupted into an icing war, with everyone doing their best to wipe icing on someone else. Tzuyu ended up the cleanest, with one dollop of icing on her nose, courtesy of Jihyo. Nayeon had cleared most of the icing off of her face, wiping the majority of it on Mina and Dahyun. They managed to salvage most of the cakes, eating them all and feeling the effects of eating way too much food hit them.

They cleaned themselves up, changing into more comfortable clothes for the night. They cleaned up the food quickly as well, 9 pairs of hands working together to get the job done efficiently. The rest of the night seemed to dive head first into chaos, more so than how it had been for the past few hours. They decided to settle down a bit after 3 rounds of mafia ended in breaking Mina and Sana’s coffee table.

By the time they clean up the mess, it was late into the night and everyone was crashing from their energy burst. A random movie was put on, some foreign, cheesy love story Sana had found on Netflix. Everyone was spread around the living room, finding solace on the couch or floor. Jeongyeon and Momo laid on the floor, facing up to the ceiling, knocked out cold. Sana and Dahyun were snuggled into the corner of the couch, clinging to each other to not fall off in the little space they occupied. Jihyo and Tzuyu laid on the other end of the couch, legs braced on the floor to give the other couple their space and to keep from falling off. Chaeyoung was curled in the armchair, quietly facetiming with Jinsook.

Mina and Nayeon lay in the rest of the open floor space. Nayeon laid flush against Mina’s front, the younger girl’s arm slung over her stomach and her other arm acting as a pillow for the older girl. Mina was fast asleep, breathing evenly into the back of Nayeon’s neck. The older girl lay awake, comfortable in her girlfriend’s arms, but not feeling the effects of sleep just yet. She listened to the movie for a bit, hearing it without actually listening to it. She turned her head around the room, glancing at all of her friends. A smile set on her face as she settled back in. Mina pulled her in tighter and nuzzled into her, stilling after a minute. Nayeon had never felt more loved than in that moment, surrounded by the people she loved the most. She drifted off to the sound of Momo’s light snoring and Chaeyoung’s giggles and that stupid movie in the background, content with life.

 

“Are you on your way?” Nayeon bit her nails after her question, pulling it away to look at it in disgust. She examined it for a moment, before biting it again.

“ _Yeah I’m almost there. Miss me?_ ”

Nayeon could hear the cocky grin on Mina’s face. “Yeah actually. But also I’m just wondering where you are and when you’re going to be here.”

Mina just giggled. “ _I’ll be there in a couple of minutes. Sana loaded me up on my way out the door. She needs to learn to do her own laundry._ ”

“Alright well drive safe. I’ll see you in a bit.” She interrupted the younger’s response. “Oh! I have something for you. A surprise, kind of.”

“ _That’s funny because I have one for you too,_ ” she chuckled. “ _Ok. I’ll there in a few._ ”

Nayeon knew Mina would be showing up in a matter of minutes, but ending the call was still difficult for her. She set her phone next to her and leaned her head back, squinting at the lights above her. She tapped random rhythms against her thighs, blowing out air as she waited impatiently for the younger girl to show up. She eyed her basket of clothes, wondering if she should even start sorting them.

She didn’t even move for the clothes before she saw headlights through the front windows. She shot up in her spot, stumbling into the machine she was leaning against when she lost her balance. She made herself wait in that spot while Mina gathered her things and entered the building.

Nayeon just stared at her in shock as she walked towards her. Mina looked sheepish and only snuck glances at the older.

“What did you do to your hair?”

Mina was taken aback at that, thinking Nayeon hated it. “Um, well I wanted something different, I guess. I was tired of my old look. Why do you not like it?”

Nayeon was quick to reassure her. “No! No, I love it actually. It really suits you. But I wouldn’t take “wanting a change” as chopping off all of your hair.” Nayeon reached a hand out to play with a few strands right next to Mina’s chin. “You look so grown up with it. I really do like it, I promise. This is just a really big difference.” They both laughed at that.

“Well thank you. It was a spontaneous decision. Sana was way too happy to help me cut it. I thought since this school year was over that I’d do something with it over the summer.” She shyly pulled at some of her hair, still not quite used to the length.

“Well I love it. You look beautiful with it.” Mina blushed and lightly shoved the older girl away from her. Both girls moved towards their baskets and got to work on their laundry.

They made small talk as they worked. Mina complained about some people she had at work that day. Nayeon mentioned she had found a couple of job options that sounded interesting.

They had their machines loaded and were resting on the floor. Nayeon’s head laying on Mina’s shoulders. The younger girl had her arm wrapped around the older, running her fingers up and down her sides lightly.

“You know-” Nayeon lifted her head at Mina’s words. “-now that you aren’t in school anymore, and your schedule isn’t all messed up, we don’t have to do laundry at 2 in the morning anymore. We could do it at an earlier time. Like normal people.”

Nayeon just snorted. “Yeah but no one’s ever here. We have the place to ourselves. You want to give that up to do laundry with everybody else?” She judged Mina’s face. “And since when are we normal people?” she added after a beat.

Mina quirked a brow at that. “Yeah, what was I thinking?” She turned and they smiled at each other, laughing at how ridiculous they were.

“Although I do have a question for you.” Mina nodded for her to continue. “When we met, you told me that your dorms laundry machines were broken, so you came here instead. You said they would be out for a few weeks. But _someone_ told me that it was fixed the day after. Why did you keep coming here if you didn’t need to?”

Mina’s eyes went wide and her face turned red, all the way to the tips of her ears. “Um, I- Well-” She closed her eyes and sighed, leaning her head against the machine behind her. She exhaled under her breath, “Damn you Sana.” Nayeon just laughed at her, seeing the mortified look on her face.

“Yeah ok, our machines were fixed the next day. But, I wanted to-” she glanced at Nayeon as her blush returned. “-I wanted to see you again. This might make me sound like a creep, but I wanted to get to know you more. _Really_ get to know you. I was surprised that I managed to find you here. Honestly I’m surprised we always went on the same day. That’s like a one in a million chance there.”

Nayeon just gazed at her girlfriend, eyes loving and warm. She leaned in to kiss her, taking it slow. She felt the ghost of the other girl’s breath on her lips and moved to close the distance. They were interrupted by one of the machines across from them. Instead of being annoyed, they both laughed at their situation, remembering fondly all the times these damned machines interrupted them.

“I hate this stupid laundromat with it’s stupid machines and how they have horrible fucking timing and I hate the stupid beeping and I hate how they always interrupt me when I just want to kiss pretty girls. And I hate how much I’m stupidly in love with you.” Mina’s smile was splitting her face by the time Nayeon was done. They both just laughed at what she had said, cracking up and holding their stomachs.

Mina collected herself and leaned over to give Nayeon a quick peck before standing up to attend to her laundry. Nayeon barely registered it from laughing so much. “Wait no come back and do that again. I wasn’t ready.” Nayeon made grabby hands at the younger, but she was too out of reach. Mina just stuck her tongue out at her and kept piling her laundry into the dryer.

Before long, Nayeon’s laundry was ready to be transferred to the dryer. The girl’s worked quickly, all of this being muscle memory by now. It didn’t take them long at all to wash and dry their clothes, but they took their time folding and putting it away. Nayeon ended up saying something dumb and Mina threw as many socks at her as she could get her hands on, sparking a war between the two. They stopped once they realized that all their clean clothes were dirty once again.

Neither of them wanted to bother with rewashing all of their things, so they just tossed them in the bottom of the basket.

“So what’s the surprise you had for me?” Mina said as she meticulously folded one of her shirts.

“Oh yeah! Ok close your eyes.” Nayeon turned her back to hide what she was doing.

“Really?”

“Yes really. Just do it.”

Mina sighed as she followed the older girl’s instructions. “Ok they’re closed.”

Nayeon glanced to make sure they really were. She turned around and held her arms out, displaying what she was holding. “Ok open them.” Nayeon’s shit eating grin only grew wider when Mina registered what was in her hands. The younger girl just busted into laughter. “I figured it was time I gave this back to you finally.”

Mina reached for her hoodie, gingerly taking it from Nayeon. She ran her hand over the logo on the front, a small smile reaching her lips. She shook her head and tossed it back to Nayeon, who barely caught it before it nailed her in the face. “You may as well keep it. You’d probably use it more than I would.”

Nayeon just smiled at her, taking it and folding it carefully before putting it on top of her basket. “It was the one thing I hadn’t gotten back to you yet. A part of me never wanted to, but it’s your hoodie, so-” She trailed off at the end.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m pretty sure we’ll run into each other again.” Mina’s original words echoed in her brain, and she couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at that.

The night ended too quickly for the couple. They gathered their things and headed for the exit. They took their time putting their things in their cars and saying their goodbyes.

Mina had her arms wrapped around Nayeon’s neck, pulling her body into her own. Nayeon’s forearms rested lazily low on Mina’s hips, her hands dangerously close to her backside.

Mina was reluctant to part ways. “Do you have to go back to your place? Why can’t you come stay the night?” Mina’s pout made Nayeon have to bite her lips and turn away, laughing at how precious the younger girl was.

She turned back to the girl once she collected herself enough. “You work a morning shift in like 6 hours. You need as much sleep as you can get. And we both know neither of us would be sleeping if I came over.”

Mina toyed with the back of Nayeon’s collar, biting her bottom lip. “We could just sleep?” she said as she shrugged a shoulder. Nayeon gave her a pointed look in return. The younger just sighed. “Yeah ok you’re right.”

Nayeon nodded and pressed a kiss to Mina’s forehead. “Go home baby. You’re going to be exhausted at work tomorrow.”

Mina pulled Nayeon in for a heated kiss. She toyed with the hairs at the base of her neck as they got lost in each other. They pulled apart after a short while, breathing heavy. Their will to leave each other almost vanished at that point, but Nayeon managed pulled away from the younger.

“Text me when you get home please?”

Mina still stood there, wiping her lip. She nodded dazedly before turning and getting in her car.

Nayeon watched her drive off before getting in her own car and doing the same. It didn’t take her long to get home and up into her apartment. She made sure she was quiet as to not disturb the other residents.

The glow of the TV greeted her as she walked in. The low volume meant that the viewers were most likely asleep. Stepping out of her shoes, she walked into the room to see who was in there. A smile quickly spread on her face seeing the occupants.

Jihyo and Tzuyu were squeezed together on the couch, limbs tangled and wrapped around each other. A blanket lay on the floor, having fallen off the couple. Nayeon bent to pick up and draped it over the two of them. As she was closer to the two, she noticed a spot on Jihyo’s neck. She leaned a little closer and her eyes widened in realization. She had to slap a hand over her mouth from laughing out loud. Observing them a little more, she noticed that their hair as mussed and their clothing was all out of order.

_Damn Jihyo like them young. Good for them. Jesus I use that couch. I’ll make them clean it tomorrow._

She shuffled to her room, chuckling to herself still about the couple on the couch. She took her time getting ready for bed. She pulled out some sleepwear, pausing for a second before putting it back. She turned and grabbed Mina’s hoodie from on top of her basket and slipped it on. She decided to forgo bottoms, wearing just the pair of boyshorts she had on. She turned her light off and crawled into bed. She checked her phone, seeing Mina had texted her a few minutes ago.

“ _I’m home safe and sound. Wish you were with me though.”_ She had sent a selfie of her laying in bed, face smushed in Nayeon’s blanket and pouting again. Nayeon made sure to save it into her phone.

She reached over for the light on her desk, turning it on. She adjusted herself so that the camera could pick up on the hoodie. She stretched a bit so that it rode up, showing off the skin above the waistband of her underwear. Nayeon wasn’t trying to make herself look like a tease, but she knew Mina wouldn’t complain about it.

She sent the picture along with a text. “ _I’m glad you made it safe. Now go to sleep. I love you._ ”

It took Mina awhile to reply, and Nayeon just chuckled knowing that her picture had affected her that much. She finally got a reply about ten minutes later, laughing at her girlfriend’s one word response.

“ _Asshole._ ”

Nayeon reached over and switched the light back off. She set her phone next to her and rolled over. She thumbed at the sleeve of her hoodie, thinking back to how this all started. That morning in Mr. Kim’s and all the mornings that followed, the hoodie she accidentally stole, and the girl that came with it.

She drifted off to sleep with a content smile on her face, and thoughts of the days to come with Mina.


End file.
